Alexander Lodewijk Antonius Rijger (2 December 1944 – 23 June 2021) was a Surinamese

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

singer and songwriter. He was known for his television specials for Christmas and Mother's Day. Before becoming a musician, he was a basketball player and referee, founding the local club SCVU. He wrote one of the SuriPop 2008 finalist songs, "A Song of Life", which was performed by his three daughters. His youngest daughter Zoureena Rijger was Miss Suriname 2009.

Career

Rijger attended the Paulus School in Suriname. He played for the local

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

teams CLD and De Arend. As a leader of the Social Cultural Association Uitvlugt (SCVU in Dutch), Rijger decided to start a basketball team for the area. After studying basketball training in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, he returned and founded the team SCVU with Paul "Pa Lefi" Leeflang in 1964, becoming its vice-president. He also worked as a

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

. Although Rijger later shifted his focus to music, he maintained ties with SCVU. Under Rijger's leadership, the SCVU team was promoted to the top league of the Suriname Basketball Federation. In 1969, Rijger took a job with the tax authorities as a

bailiff A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. There are different kinds, and their offices and scope of duties vary. Another official sometimes referred to as a '' ...

, which he would maintain for 35 years. Rijger began his career in music in the 1970s: he started a band called 'The Drifter', which played

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

. In the 1980s, his sister Magda Jessurun-Rijger asked him to enter a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

festival with her. They then decided to start a band called "Country Roads", which would host

line dance A line dance is a choreographed dance in which a group of people dance along to a repeating sequence of dance step, steps while arranged in one or more lines or rows. These lines usually face all in the same direction, or less commonly face each ot ...

nights. When Magda emigrated to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in the 1990s, Rijger continued solo, sometimes collaborating with other country artists like René Nelson. Rijger performed at casinos, hotels (like the Hotel

Torarica Torarica is the original capital of Suriname. It was settled by Portuguese Jews in 1629. One origin offered for its name is as a Portuguese coinage meaning "Opulent Torah". The Portuguese Jews arrived via Holland and Brazil.television specials for

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

and

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in Mar ...

. Rijger wrote many of his own songs, including Christmas songs. He also started the Country and Western Music Suriname foundation.

Family

Rijger married Nisa Chandoe in 1984. Rijger and Nisa had five children: two sons and three daughters. One son died in infancy. The remaining four children (son Garry and daughters Cheryll, Xaviera and Zoureena) joined Rijger in his performances when they were older: Garry would be the DJ, and the sisters would sing as a trio. As Rijger also played football in recreational clubs, he did occasional coaching of the youth

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

teams Puwa Nani and Bintang Baru '82, and would have his children attend the practices. Garry died in 2004: while walking along a road, he was hit by a

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

whose driver had fallen asleep at the wheel. Rijger was greatly impacted by Garry's death: he took early retirement from his job as a bailiff, and stopped performing for three years. He returned slowly to performing, with Nisa as the DJ. For four months in 2007, the family ran their own club, the "Lex Rijger Countryclub" on

Henck Arron Henck Alphonsus Eugène Arron (25 April 1936 – 4 December 2000) was a Surinamese politician who served as the first Prime Minister of Suriname after it gained independence in 1975. A member of the National Party of Suriname, he served from 24 ...

Street in

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

; after the club closed, they continued holding line dancing events at different venues. Rijger's original song "A Song of Life", performed by his daughters, was one of the ten final selections for SuriPop in 2008. His youngest daughter Zoureena Rijger was Miss Suriname 2009. His eldest daughter Cheryll married the actor Ruben Welles in 2019. His daughters continued to perform one or two country songs in their concerts even while they shifted to more

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

and

Illness and death

Rijger's last performance was in 2013. He was diagnosed with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

in 2014, but had been experiencing forgetfulness and other symptoms for several years before. He died on 23 June 2021 at the age of 76. His funeral was held on 2 July at the

Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral, Paramaribo The Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Peter and Paul, also called Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral ( Dutch: ''Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskathedraal''), is a wooden Roman Catholic cathedral located in the centre of the capital city of Paramaribo, Suriname. T ...

. The newspaper '' Dagblad Suriname'' called him "a piece of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

in Suriname".

References

External links

SCVU tribute to the late founder

Rijger and the SCVU (1978)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rijger, Lex 1944 births 2021 deaths Country singers 20th-century Surinamese male singers Male songwriters Surinamese men's basketball players 21st-century Surinamese male singers Deaths from Alzheimer's disease