Juan Francisco Pieters Cutts was born April 21, 1955 in Guatemala.  He was the second of five children born to Jane Cutts Pieters from St. Louis, Missouri and Frans George Pieters from Guatemala.

 

He graduated from High School from The American School of Guatemala, in 1973.  He attended Denison University in Granville, Ohio for one year and then transferred to Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio where he received a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture in December, 1977.  After graduating from college he returned to Guatemala and worked for Industrias Agrícolas Centroamericanas.  In January, 1979 he decided to continue his education at Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo, California.

He returned to Guatemala in1980, to manage the family farm, Hacienda Pangola until the time of this death.  Five years later, Chito and Jaco bought one of Pangola´s neighboring farms, El Labrador.  From then on they worked together forming several companies, distributing different agricultural and packaging products.

He married Bárbara Arroyo on August 13, 1994 and had three children—Michelle  (11yrs), Carol (10yrs), and Frans (7yrs).  Chito and Bárbara shared their love for Guatemala and nature with their children.  They travelled throughout, instilling in their children the importance of family, having a sense of humor and the need to enjoy and appreciate all the things that surround them.

 

In August 2005, after being misdiagnosed with hemangiomas and all kinds of gastrointestinal problems for over 10 years, he was finally diagnosed with Carcinoid Syndrome.  Due to complications of his late diagnosis, his battle with this rare cancer came to an end on February 1, 2008.

His wife Bárbara, his children Michelle, Carol and Frans; his brothers and sisters Katy & Rómulo De Nes, Uti & John Gray, Jaco & Manola Pieters, Bibi & Eduardo Cabarrús;  his nieces and nephews Nicole, Katina, William, Ana Paola, Jacobo, Juan Pablo and Isabel; his aunts and uncles  Mary and Bud Jones, Christine Pieters de Le Vernoy; his cousins, want to express their gratitude for the outpouring of love, support and condolences shown to them.

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