BIOGRAPHY

Felicitas Van Oudenhove was born in Ninove, East Flanders, Belgium, on 6 December 1908. Her parents were Emilius Van Oudenhove, a teacher from Herne, and his wife Maria Van Opdenbosch. She spent her early years in Ninove, where she completed her primary education before becoming a boarder at the College Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ten-Doorn in Eeklo. There, she studied Latin and Greek, with lessons conducted entirely in French. However, after falling ill during the summer holidays following her fourth year, she completed her final two years of schooling closer to home in Brussels.

In November 1928, just shy of her 20th birthday, Felicitas married Lodewijk De Wilde in Ninove. Shortly after their wedding, the couple moved to the Belgian Congo, where Lodewijk worked as an agricultural engineer. All eleven of their children were born during their time in the colony. During World War II, they remained in Africa, opting to vacation in South Africa rather than return to Belgium. In 1946, the family returned to Belgium, settling in Gentbrugge. Lodewijk became a professor of tropical agriculture in Ghent and Leuven. After 61 years of marriage, Felicitas was widowed in 1990.

Following her husband’s passing, she moved to an apartment near the Ghent university campus. In 2010, at the age of nearly 102, she relocated to a nursing home in the Ghent suburb of Sint-Denijs-Westrem. Felicitas maintained good mental and physical health well into her later years, though her eyesight deteriorated significantly. She kept herself occupied with activities like playing Scrabble, solving crossword puzzles, and cycling on an exercise bike.

Shortly before her 110th birthday, Felicitas fell ill. Her birthday celebration had to be canceled, but she recovered enough to receive congratulations from alderman Sofie Bracke. Sadly, she never fully regained her strength and passed away just 26 days later, having lived to see New Year’s Eve at the nursing home.

RECOGNITION

At the time of her passing, she was the second-oldest living person in Belgium, after Elisabeth De Proost.

ATTRIBUTION

* “De mensen hier zijn minder oud dan ik eerst dacht” – Het Nieuwsblad, 23 October 2015

* “Felicitas van Oudenhove: 108 lentes jong en fris van geest, de álleroudste oud-leerlinge van Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ten-Doorn” – De Meetjeslander

* “Trappen lopen? Scrabble? Geen probleem” – HLN, 8 December 2017

* Felicitas Van Oudenhove (1908-2019) – Belgische eeuwelingen, 30 October 2018

* “Oudste Gentse ziek op haar 110de verjaardag” – HLN, 5 December 2018

* “Nu al gemist door 119 nakomelingen: oudste Gentse Felicitas Van Oudenhove overleden op 110-jarige leeftijd” – HLN, 2 January 2019

GALLERY