With deep love and gratitude I want to share with you that our dear mother Marianne Boot - Prellwitz died at the age of 96. We, brother Willem, sister Jola and I Barend were and are fond of our mom.

About our mom Marianne:
Marianne had a great love and attention for people. Until her death, she always remained curious about how you were really doing and was willing to learn and reinvent herself. She could deal effortlessly with all age groups. Her flexibility in also learning to deal with her own physical and mental discomfort is an example to me. She was truly unconventional and a supporter of social initiatives, such as elder visits, church and Canton Park. She was my most beautiful mother and one of my biggest fans.

In life with her husband Jacob until 20 years ago, Marianne developed by taking on all kinds of new tasks with coffee. During and after his death she developed into a beloved multi-faceted spiritual woman with a very large circle of friends.

Marianne and coffee:
Together with our father Jacob Boot, she pioneered the world of Specialty Coffee. She supported Jacob from the 70's with charm and secretarial support in the development and name recognition of Coffee Shop The Golden Coffee Box in Baarn ( - which was later renamed BOOT Koffie).

In the 1980s, Marianne rotated full time in the Coffee Shop. She helped with coffee roasting, coffee brewing, courses and coffee sales. With Jacob, she taught me how to taste coffee and check (= cupping) the just-roasted coffee spits for flavor.

She packed thousands of bags at the counter. That time was a great time for her.

The Golden Coffee Box was the first coffee shop in Holland with such special coffees from 1 plantation or 'single origin'.

Many visits to Baarn by coffee farmers and coffee experts followed. Together Marianne and Jacob tasted many coffees, undertook coffee tours. They also met creative, exciting or taste-conscious people, looking for special qualities.

In the 90's Marianne and Jacob handed the coffee shop over to us brothers, Barend and Willem. They themselves went deeper into the coffee countries and the search for quality, including Thailand and Panama. Together with the Panamanian coffee planters-family Ruiz (of the Panamaria coffee) and family Janson, they helped BOOT coffee with the import of the first Panamanian coffee in the Netherlands.

My brother Willem and I are blessed to be making dreams come true in the coffee world with these special coffees. Willem became an award-winning Panama Geisha coffee farmer.

BOOT coffee long became the largest importer of Panamanian coffee in Europe. BOOT Panamaria and Panama Hartmann are a quality variety in the Netherlands.

Marianne and Jacob enthusiastically opened a KoffieMuseum with workshops and tastings after retirement. Almost every visitor was blazing with enthusiasm about tasting those special flavors and a new sensitive coffee world you enter.

With kind regards,
Barend Boot