The late Acting Governor, Attorney at law Reynold Amando Groeneveldt.
PHILIPSBURG--Acting Governor, Attorney at law Reynold Amando Groeneveldt passed away on Tuesday. The circumstances of his passing are not yet clear.
News of his passing spread rapidly around the island with many persons turning to social media to give their condolences to the highly respected official.
Groeneveldt was appointed by Royal Decree, as the first Acting Governor of St. Maarten. Previously Groeneveldt served as Acting Lieutenant Governor during the transition period from May 31, 2010, until October 10, 2010, it was stated on the website of the Governor.
Groeneveldt was born in Aruba of St. Maarten parents and grew up in St. Maarten. After completing the John Philips School for Secondary Education, he left for the Netherlands to pursue teacher training at the Pedagogical Academy in Rotterdam.
Upon the completion of this study, he returned to St. Maarten and worked for a short period as a teacher at the Oranje School in Philipsburg, his profile on the Governor’s website reads. Subsequently he was transferred to the Insular Department of Education, where he worked for many years and later became the Director until 1995. In 1990, he obtained his degree in Antillean law from the University of the Netherlands Antilles.
Since 1995 he has been practising law in St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius.
Groeneveldt worked as an attorney at law. In the year 2001, he established his own law firm. Groeneveldt was married to Glenda Patricia Groeneveldt-Smith and had a daughter named Angela Fleming-Groeneveldt.
Groeneveldt enjoyed researching legal topics and acquiring legal knowledge, particularly in the areas of constitutional and administrative law. He was a member for many years of various committees that advised government on the process of constitutional change.
The function of acting governor entails assuming the function of governor whenever the governor is not able to execute the function or whenever the governor is not in the country.
