[ diplomatic spouses ]
Newlywed Diplomacy Dutch Envoy’s Texas Bride Is All Business, Bliss and Charm by Gail Scott
H
Dutch Ambassador Rudolf Bekink and Gabrielle de Kuyper Sheshunoff Bekink were married in August 2011 in Prouts Neck, Maine.
e was born in a small town in the Netherlands and has worked in places ranging from Athens to Angola. She has a spirited Dutch connection but was born in Canada and hails from Texas. The two met in China, and Washington, D.C., is their first home together. It’s been quite a journey to wedded bliss. Recently appointed Dutch Ambassador Rudolf Bekink and his businesswoman bride Gabrielle de Kuyper Sheshunoff Bekink are newlyweds who are ready to start their new life together while also using their international savvy and business experience to promote Dutch economic and political ties in the United States (also see this month’s cover profile). “She doesn’t even pronounce her own Dutch name correctly … and she doesn’t speak Dutch either,” said Bekink with a big smile, laughing with his wife in the library of their residence. In fact, they both laughed a lot throughout the interview — the sheen of new love still glowing brightly. They met in 2008 at a dinner party in Beijing, Photo: (above) Stacey Kane; (cover) Kenneth B. Gall Photography - Austin, Texas where he was the Dutch ambassador to China and she was travelling with the International “I brought a lot of furniture and other things with me,” Gabrielle said of moving Council of the Louvre, just one of the many groups to which she is devoted. to Washington.“I’ve rearranged a lot. I want our residence to have the cozy feeling They were married in August 2011 at her summer place in Prouts Neck, Maine, of a home so people will want to stay.” with all five of their grown sons from previous marriages and five grandsons in For example, she replaced the more formal and somewhat uncomfortable dining attendance. But their separate careers kept them mostly apart for a year until they chairs with 18 inviting, gray-silk overstuffed chairs. “I don’t want anyone to hurry moved into the official Dutch Residence in Kalorama in August 2012, shortly after from dinner,” she noted. Bekink was appointed to serve in Washington, D.C. To further ensure that everyone lingers over dinner, she also brought in chef While he heads up the embassy, she maintains a large second-floor office in the Christina Owen from the Four Seasons hotel in Austin. Owen is now in charge of residence and handles most of her daily business remotely from Washington. the menus for special embassy events. For one recent buffet — attended by 150 Gabrielle is founder and CEO of Sheshunoff Consulting + guests, including U.S. state agriculture secretarSolutions, a provider of executive development, internal ies — Owen and Gabrielle set out to meld audit, loan review, compliance and investment banking Dutch specialties with American regional cuiI learned a lot from my father services to U.S. financial institutions. From her perch at sine and products. Sheshunoff Consulting, she’s written about topics such as “I made bitterballen, a croquette served with about business…. I always thought gravy and mustard.We also had oliebollen, a chili compliance rules and transparency reform for the financial services industry. beignet dessert, something like a dried fruit fritI would be in business. Gabrielle also co-founded Sheshunoff Information ter,” Owen said. Services in 1971 and was its chief executive until 1988, When I asked the chef if either the ambassa— Gabrielle de Kuyper Sheshunoff Bekink when Thomson Reuters acquired the company. Prior to dor or his wife like to cook, she was quick to wife of Dutch Ambassador Rudolf Bekink her work with Sheshunoff, she worked for DeKuyper, a answer. Dutch liquor company that her father brought over to the “The ambassador likes to cook,” Owen replied, United States from the Netherlands. She served as execuespecially in the upper private kitchen. His tive vice president of John de Kuyper and Zoon B.V. Canada, Ltd., where she was favorite dish is spaghetti bolognese. responsible for de Kuyper Canada and U.S. operations. “However, they have very sophisticated palates. They enjoy truffles and I do my “I learned a lot from my father about business,” said Gabrielle, who graduated own thing for them — often a surprise of something lighter, like seafood, fish and from King’s Hall and attended McGill University in Montreal. “I always thought I shellfish.” would be in business.” In her spare time, Gabrielle helps to look after their three dogs, 15-year-old Trini, Now, one of her main goals is to help her husband increase the strong business 12-year-old Doortje and 2-year-old Katje. She also enjoys the outdoors.“I like to plan ties between the United States and the Netherlands, which is America’s largest des- gardens, do the design, but I don’t like to do the digging and get all dirty,” she said. tination country of U.S. foreign direct investment. In fact, Dutch investment in She’s also active on the civic front, serving on the boards of groups such as the American companies totaled $240 billion in 2011, while American companies Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the American Friends of the British increased their investment in the Netherlands to $595 billion.The bilateral relationMuseum. ship also supports nearly 680,000 jobs in the United States. And they’re both looking forward to meeting new people in the nation’s capital. To spread the word about these critical economic links, the ambassador has trav- “I love to meet people who accomplish something in this world. It makes a diploeled to U.S. states such as Texas, where Gabrielle was a longtime resident of Austin. mat cheer,” Bekink said, though he could just as easily have been referring to his Meanwhile, Gabrielle is adjusting to life as an ambassador’s wife, trying to set the blushing new bride. stage to host formal events while adding a down-home Southern charm to her diplomatic outreach. Gail Scott is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat and Diplomatic Pouch.
“
”
May 2013
The Washington Diplomat Page 37