Jan de Jong jr. left for Culemborg in 1898, to the small seminary.  Various studies followed, resulting in doctoral degrees in philosophy. After his studies he was appointed third chaplain in a parish church in Amersfoort and later vice-principal of the mother house and boarding school for girls with the nuns of "Onze Lieve Vrouw" (Our Lady) in Amersfoort.

Subsequently, Jan de Jong became professor and later president of a large seminary. In 1936, he succeeded Mgr. Jansen as Archbishop of Utrecht. His connection to Ameland was reflected in the crest he chose. The moon and the three girders from the Ameland crest.

After the liberation in 1945 and the return of the Dutch government, Pius XII named him cardinal as a result of his share in the resistance against the occupation of his homeland and his unwavering stance as church leader. In addition, he was knighted with the highest accolades, the decorations of which are still on display in the cultural-historic museum Sorgdrager in Hollum.  On 8 September 1955, Cardinal de Jong died in Amersfoort.

At the intersection of the Kardinaal de Jongweg and the Burgemeester Waldaweg in his birth village Nes you will find a memorial statue of Johannes Cardinal de Jong. The statue was created by Frysian artist Frans Ram. Cardinal de Jong was a modest person. The artwork presents the cardinal in the way island residents knew him: simply dressed, hat in hand, on foot on his beloved Ameland.

The statue in Nes was unveiled in 1982. Especially for the ceremony around the unveiling, the Roman-Catholic Church of Ameland was jam-packed and senior clergy and political leaders had also come to Ameland.

On Tuesday 1 February 2022, it was announced that cardinal Jan de Jong was honoured with the Yad Vashem-medal posthumously. This is Israel's distinction for non-Jews who were actively resisting the persecution of Jews during the Second World War and thereby took great personal risks. It makes De Jong one of the "Righteous Among the Nations".

Source: Ameland ... ander land, de complete reisgids, door J. De Kruyf en R. Tienkamp.