Major Bosshardt - a good woman died

I am not a big fan of organized religions. I respect individuals who believe in one or more Gods, or worship any deity (or a kangaroo or a goat for that matter). On the contrary, I don't like churches and people that have institutionalized religions. I believe the majority of priests and pastors are cheats, sexually frustrated men and/or corrupt thieves. However, sometimes you find an exception: Major Bosshardt was one of them. Alida Bosshardt, a Christian acclaimed for her decades of work among the prostitutes and drug addicts of Amsterdam, died Monday, the Salvation Army said. She was 94. A spokeswoman for the Salvation Army said she died of "old age." "She had heart troubles and kidney problems, but this was really just old age: her body was deteriorating at the end," said spokeswoman Hella van der Schoot.

Bosshardt joined the Salvation Army in 1934 and was instructed to work with women in Amsterdam's Red Light District shortly after the end of World War II. A "Goodwill" centre she established in the area eventually became a hub where volunteers cared for not only prostitutes and their children, but offered shelter to the homeless and a wide range of social services to drug addicts and other troubled people attracted to the area. Bosshardt was universally known as "Major" Bosshardt in the Netherlands, though she actually advanced to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Salvation Army's ranks.

Among her many awards were a knighthood in the Netherlands' Order of Oranje Naussau in 2004. The Royal House said Monday that Queen Beatrix was "moved" by the death. While Beatrix was the country's crown princess in 1965 she spent an evening in disguise, following Bosshardt on her rounds. Bosshardt was given a "righteous among nations" award by Israel's Yad Vashem for helping Jewish children during the war, often riding them on her bicycle to homes where they would go into hiding. "I'm in God's service to serve people," Bosshardt said once when receiving an award. "All honour goes to him, not me." Her closest surviving family are distant nieces and nephews. Her funeral is scheduled for June 30. May she rest in peace.