Remembering Gerrit Poels: The Bread Father of Tilburg

Gerrit Poels, also known as father Poels, passed away at the age of 93. Until his old age he brought leftover bread at night to Tilburgers who lived in poverty.

Father Poels is a household name in Tilburg and the surrounding area. Since 1990, he cycled seven nights a week to bring bread to people in need. He often left that in a bag on the door handle, so that his help went unnoticed. “People are often ashamed of their poverty,” he said. That’s why he also went out at night.

To his foster daughter, he was first and foremost just a father. “He was a very sweet dad,” says daughter Hülya Broadcasting Brabant. “He always exuded patience and kindness. Everyone was safe with him. He was the first in my life and he will be until the last.”

With his panniers full of bread, he rode an average of 30 kilometers per night through the city. He didn’t come home until early morning. “Sometimes during his night route he thought it was more important to feed that one frightened kitten,” says Hülya. “Those 200 other addresses then had to wait a while. It’s about the heart with which you do something, not about the numbers.”

Poels was also called the ‘bread father’, although he was no longer a father. In 1969 he had left the priesthood after 15 years, in his own words because the church hardly paid attention to the necessary needs of people.

In the same year he married Sister Angelique van den Heuvel, who had also retired. In the years that followed, they raised six foster children together and cared for people with psychological problems. With four others he founded the Tilburg emergency center. The first shelter for homeless people in Tilburg that emerged from this was named ‘Huize Poels’.

In 1990, Poels said goodbye to Huize Poels. According to Omroep Brabant, he disliked the professionalization and regulations in the assistance. Poels did what he had learned in practice and what he thought was necessary. “I’m not a social worker, I help”, was a well-known statement by Poels. Partly thanks to him, three more shelters, an employment project, a thrift shop and a social eatery were opened in Tilburg.

Gerrit Poels continued to work for people in poverty until the very last moment:

In 1990, Poels founded the Broodnood foundation and started his nightly cycling trips through Tilburg, which he has done for 27 years. In 2017, when he was 88 years old, he decided to stop delivering bread all night long. He handed over his work to his foster daughter Hülya and a foundation was set up where people can go for meals and pick up food.

With his work, Poels said he had worn out sixty bicycles and helped thousands of people. He did not retire completely, however. “I’m going to stop step by step. I’m so used to getting up at night and doing that work, there’s no escaping it anymore,” said Pools in 2017 to Omroep Brabant.

Poels has received several awards for his work. In 2017, for example, he received the Gouden Legpenning, the highest municipal award. Earlier he had already received a Golden Pin from the municipality and a tile on the Tilburg Walk of Fame. He was also a Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau. In 2001, the KRO proclaimed him a Dutch hero.

A while back, Hülya asked her father what he wanted to leave behind after his death. “After a few seconds he said, ‘For people to know I’ve been there for them.'”