Maureen was born in Surabaya, on the island of Java. In 1958, Maureen, her father, Martinus de Schepper “ a Steurtje” (born in Magelang), her mother, Norma de Schepper-Van Eekhout (born in Surabaya) and her younger sister “repatriated” to The Netherlands. After two brothers were born in Zwijndrecht, The Netherlands, the family of six was sponsored by a Methodist church and immigrated to Hannibal, Missouri, USA in 1962, home of Mark Twain, the famous American author. When a better job opportunity was offered to her father within three months of arriving, the family relocated to sunny Southern California and the family has lived there ever since.
Maureen started her career in the Food Industry as college plans were averted after being asked to help the family of seven financially. She ended up making a career of it for 38 years. Due to her curious interest and enthusiasm, she achieved various promotions and became a Corporate Region Sales Manager traveling weekly over at least 50%+ of the United States assigned to her.
Maureen’s uncle and aunt, Denis & Constance Dutrieux established the “August 15, 1945 Herdenking’s Committee” in Los Angeles with an initial ceremony at the L.A. National Cemetery in September 1990 that is continued annually. They, along with her parents, have since passed away so she is seeking more information and connection about her Indo roots, heritage and history through local Indo Social Clubs and now “The Indo Project”.
She wants to honor her parents and uncle and aunt by offering to passionately continue to assure that our Dutch-East Indo history is not forgotten, archived in English, plus work diligently to raise funds to create a cultural center so all future generations will be able to know this rich Indo heritage, including her one son named after her father who continues to carry his name, Martin de Schepper.
