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Kenneth Hewes Barricklo
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Patrick Van Pelt, Trustee, Chairman of Membership Committee

The Laenen van Pelt family arrived in 1663 from Gelderland in the Netherlands aboard the Dutch ship Roseboom. The Van Pelt family helped colonize New Netherland – settling in what is now Brooklyn , New York , under the charter of the Dutch West India Company. In the 1670s, Jan Teunissen van Pelt, the immigrant patriarch's eldest son, settled a land grant on Staten Island , New York.

Patrick Van Pelt was born in Rahway , New Jersey - where earlier generations of the Van Pelt family had settled family land holdings in the 1830s. In Patrick Van Pelt's youth, his family followed his father William H. Van Pelt III 's career. Van Pelt spent his childhood and adolescence in diverse and interesting communities – Saratoga Springs , New York being one of them (and one of his favorite places to this day). Now, Van Pelt makes Houston , Texas his home. Knowing rural, suburban and urban living shaped Van Pelt's fundamental appreciation of the context in which families develop. He saw how geography, cultural landscape, economics, community structure, and architecture matter. Van Pelt appreciated how a community's own beliefs could shape their commitment to strategic goals.

Van Pelt graduated with a business degree from Marquette University . Earning his Master of Business Administration degree from Rice University marked a personal milestone. Van Pelt sharpened his talents and became a more effective leader.

Van Pelt is currently the Managing Director of The Mid-Continent Companies. As such, he works alongside his father and brother, William H. Van Pelt IV, to manage their family business. Van Pelt's systematic work as a manager spans financial services, residential construction and real estate. Construction experience fostered Van Pelt's interest in languages and effective team communication. Van Pelt became fluent in Spanish and Portuguese through years of practice.

Whether as family man, businessman or citizen, Van Pelt has a reputation for comprehensive and personally meaningful goals. Van Pelt has completed several creative projects of great ambition.

The restoration of the circa 1920s apartment building “The Benjamin” highlights Van Pelt's hands-on approach to work. The Benjamin project's quality was recognized by winning the following awards: Good Brick Award, Official City of Houston Landmark, Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, and National Register of Historic Places designation. Due to his passion for architectural heritage, Van Pelt was appointed Chairman of the Harris County Historical Commission in January 2007 after 10 years of service as a member. He serves on the board of directors of the Rice Historical Society as Rice University anticipates its upcoming 100 th Anniversary.

Van Pelt personally conducted 12 years of encyclopedic genealogical research in New Jersey , New York , the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Belgium . Van Pelt traced his ancestral origins back to the Laenen family in the 1500s…to their ancestral village of Overpelt , Limburg , Belgium . He is currently working on a reference book on the Laenen van Pelt Family. As a descendant of the Dutch founders of New Netherland , Van Pelt qualified for membership in The Holland Society of New York in 2005.

Van Pelt enjoys relaxing at home with his wife, Mirela de Paula Van Pelt – a native of São Paulo , Brazil – and their children, Bella Maureen and Benjamin Fitzpartick. Baile na Féile is the Irish name of their family home in Houston 's Museum District. The Gaelige phrase means Place of Hospitality – a perfect name for the home of someone who values both places and people .