The Zonnevelds (Part 1)

Jack T and Margaret Zonneveld - 1960 to 1999

Jack and Margaret Zonneveld came to the United States from Holland. Mr. Zonneveld worked for John Ascuaga’s Nugget casino in Sparks, NV. When he retired from the Nugget he was the Purchasing Director.

Mrs. Zonneveld never worked. however, Kitty (her daughter) informed me that she was an loving mother of five children and a hard working housewife. Many of our long term neighbors still remember the Zonnevelds and tell many stories about them. One of the most common stories we hear is about Mr. Zonneveld walking his dogs around the neighborhood. Griff, one of our long term neighbors also told us the Zonnevelds loved to sing and would visit nursing homes to entertain the residents.

We invited Kitty Falcone (née Zonneveld) and Jim Zonneveld, two of their children, over to visit. Kitty and Jim were very helpful in helping us learn what our house looked like before it was remodeled. They also gave us a bit of family history. Mr. Zonneveld was an avid gardener. In fact most of our back yard, which is now grass, was a vegetable garden. When the Nugget used to have elephants as part of their attractions, Mr. Zonneveld would bring the elephant dung home for fertilizer. Jim said that, if you got lost at night, you could always smell your way home.

The day before my fiftieth birthday, I was doing some last minute cleaning in the basement and found a roll of paper under the shelves Mrs. Zonneveld used for her preserves. The paper was wrapped around something. As I pulled it out, it ripped and part of what was in there fell out. They were a pair of old strap-on ice skates. Kitty translated the writing on the paper, "Papa Schaatseh" as being Dutch for "Father's Skates." These were probably Mr. Zonneveld's skates that he brought with him from Holland. The skates are now in her possession.

Another interesting find were four cans of evaporated milk that were found between the ceiling of our basement and the floor joists. The dates on three cans were from 1966. The fourth didn't have a date, but since they were all found together it is reasonable to assume they were also put there at the same time. Kitty said they may have been put there by her brother, John, who's bedroom was in the basement at that time.

We also found out that Robert Conrad (from the TV Series Wild, Wild West and Baa-Baa Black Sheep) filmed a made for TV movie in Reno in 1992. It was called "Sworn to Vengeance." A friend of ours gave me a DVD of it for my 50th birthday. There are several scenes filmed in the Wells Addition. Three scenes were filmed in our house.