Willem H. den Ouden, founding father of Vetus, the Dutch manufacturers of marine engines and technical boat equipment, passed away last week in his home in France after a short illness. He was 73.

“Willem den Ouden was a man of large stature and Vetus owes him for his vision and his boundless energy,” the Netherlands-based company said in a statement posted on its Web site.

Vetus was founded by den Ouden in 1964. He sold the company to AlpInvest in 1999, but maintained a minority interest in the company for several years. In 2005, he founded Willdo, a Geldermalsen, Netherlands-based company that specializes in pump-out stations and other equipment for marinas.