The oldest man in Belgium, Albert Van Raemdonck, has died at the age of 107 in a residential care home in the East Flemish town of Sint-Niklaas. He was also the country's oldest veteran.
The 107-year-old had been unwell for several months: he could no longer hear or talk. However, he was still known as someone who always looked for the positives in life by family, friends and the staff in the care home where he worked as a man. He repeatedly said in interviews that he tries to start every day with a smile, which he said was the secret to his long life.
However, he faced many hardships throughout his life. Van Raemdonck was born on 6 July 1916, in the middle of the First World War. During the Second World War, he was one of the Belgian soldiers who lived through the 18-day campaign when the Nazi invasion overwhelmed Belgium in 1940. After the capitulation, he saw a ship taking Belgian prisoners of war explode after sailing over a mine, witnessing 200 of his comrades drown.
He was briefly on the front line himself and escaped death several times, and at the age of 25 even came very close to dying. As a survivor, he regularly paid tribute to the people who lost their lives in the war. Until the age of 100, he carried the banner of the National Fighters' Union (NSB) and led commemoration ceremonies across the country.
Van Raemdonck far outlived his wife, who died in 1999, an experience which greatly affected him. After her death, he continued to live independently in the centre of Sint-Niklaas until he was 102, after which he stayed in the residential care home Ennea.
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Before the war, he worked as a printer at a printing company in Sint-Niklaas, and he returned to this business after the war until he retired in 1976. He also carried the title of chief clarion player at the Excelsior brass band for more than 30 years.
Van Raemdonck had been the oldest man in Belgium since the end of October last year when Jaak Broeckx (109) from Limburg died. The oldest Belgian is a woman from Hainaut, who wishes to remain anonymous. In September, she celebrated her 109th birthday.
