Caney resident Pascal Van Schijndel received his U.S. citizenship during a  Naturalization Oath Ceremony last Friday, Sept. 19 at the Mary Jane Teall Theater in Wichita.

J. Thomas Marten, U.S. district court judge, administered the oath to Van Schijndel and 245 other immigrants. Judge Marten announced that in his 13 years of providing citizenship oaths, this particular crowd was the largest he has had the honor to preside over.

Thirty-four countries were represented, including Mexico, Canada, India, Spain, Ethiopia, Panama, Peoples Republic of China, Cambodia, El Salvador, Philippines, Russia, Laos, Algeria, Egypt, Congo, South Africa, Viet Nam, Puerto Rico, Thailand, Guatemala, Kampuchea, Syria, Peru, Cameroon, Cambodia, Korea, Pakistan, Jamaica, Ukraine, Germany, Panama, Guyana, Nigeria and the Netherlands, where Pascal is from.

Pascal immigrated to the United States in November 1999 and married Caney native Pamela (Ernest) Van Schijndel in January 2000. He applied for naturalization in July 2007 and took the citizenship test on May 7, 2008.

Pascal is best known as a storm spotter for KJRH News channel 2 in Tulsa, Okla. He is employed at Cessna Aircraft Company in Independence.