John was born in Amsterdam from poor parents.  His father was without work, and his mother cleaned houses for a living. When John’s father finally got a job, he started his career installing telephone equipment, eventually becoming superintendent for the city of Amsterdam.

When it was time for John to go to school, he was sent to the Montessori kindergarten and elementary school. That was a fortunate choice to which he attributed his curiosity and creativity.

In the wartime John was a forced laborer and was sent to work in Berlin. In 1945 he was liberated by the Russians. What he saw and experience in that period made him a lifelong pacifist.

When back in Holland, he met Ilona Mantel. He fell in love and married her. Together, they had 3 children: Myra, Niels, and Olaf.

He also realized that his career was not fulfilling and so he went to the School of Social Work in Amsterdam. Later, he was awarded a Fulbright grant to study at the University of Minnesota. He received a Master’s degree in Social Work and Community Organization.

Their stay in the United States persuaded them to emigrate, and they settled in California.

John worked for the Santa Clara County Department of Social Services until he went as a psychotherapist into private practice. He worked for the Center of Human Communications in Los Gatos where he developed novel ways of psychotherapy, and considers that as one of his major accomplishments. His work has been published in Dutch, German and English.

The relationship with Ilona had become distant, and they divorced in 1971.

In 1976, he met Truus Jansen in Amsterdam, and the fell in love. They married that same year.

In 1991 John and Truus retired and did much travelling. They both had a lifelong affection for the outdoors, and they visited nature reservations on 5 continents.

His Diabetes caused him to have neuropathy such that he no longer could stand on his feet, and he became permanently bedridden and dependent. This was an unacceptable condition for him and so he decided to not eat, drink or take life sustaining medication, causing his death on July 9, 2014.

                                                                               John P. Krop, June 26, 2014