De Heere was the son of Johan Gerritsz de Heere and Marritje Gerrits. From 1693 until 1694, he served as Chief Trader at Dejima, after which he became a senior merchant in Batavia, capital of the Dutch East Indies. In 1695, he married Johanna Maria van Riebeeck, who was 22 years his junior and a daughter of Abraham van Riebeeck as well as a granddaughter to Jan van Riebeeck, founder of Cape Town.[1]