BIOGRAPHY

Lévaz was born in Braives, Liège, Belgium, on 18 March 1911, as the daughter of the clerk Georges Lévaz and his wife Estelle Debary. Starting at the age of 17, she worked as a milliner in a workshop. Later, she became the manager of a shoe shop in Jemeppe-sur-Meuse. In 1932, she married Joseph Huysmans from Liège, who was ten years her senior. The couple had no children.

Her husband passed away there in 1960. Three years later, in 1963, she remarried in Marcinelle, near Charleroi, to François Pierard from the region. At that time, she also closed her shoe shop. However, François, who was 14 years older than she was, died in 1977. She had two more relationships after that.

In 2011, she mentioned that she had been practicing yoga for the past 35 years. Although she was no longer taking classes, she continued to practice at home. She said it had greatly helped her maintain flexibility and mobility, even though she was doing it less frequently than before. At the age of 103, she continued to go to the local dance hall every Sunday, accompanied by her companion, Marcel Derwael, with whom she still lived independently at home in Remicourt. At the time, she remarked that she was still in good health and shape. While she continued to dance, she noted that the current music was a bit too fast for her, so she preferred slow dances and tangos. Her last partner, Marcel, who was thirty years her junior and with whom she had lived in Pousset since the late 1980s, passed away in December 2015.

Lévaz continued to live independently until she was 108, when she moved into a retirement home in Pousset in 2019. Even at the age of 110, she took care of her appearance every morning, attending to her clothes and makeup. She enjoyed wearing red lipstick and nail polish. At the age of 111, she still ate unassisted and maintained a relatively good appetite. She would occasionally drink Galipette, a strawberry aperitif, and enjoyed a small glass of wine every day.

Lévaz passed away in Pousset, Liège, Belgium, on 13 November 2022, at the age of 111 years, 240 days.

RECOGNITION

Lévaz’s age was verified by Anthony Croes-Lacroix and validated by the ESO on 22 March 2021.

On 28 April 2021, at the age of 110 years, 41 days, she surpassed the final age of Jeanne Pirenne-Lempereur, becoming the oldest person who ever lived in Liege Province.

On 29 April 2021, following the passing of 111-year-old Julia Van Hool, she became the oldest living person in Belgium, at the age of 110 years, 42 days. Upon her own passing, she was succeeded by Magda Janssens.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Waremme: à… 103 ans, Marcelle va au dancing chaque week-end” – Sudinfo, 23 March 2014

* “Marcelle, doyenne de Wallonie à 109 ans et 173 jours” – RTBF, 8 September 2020

* “Remicourt: Marcelle Levaz est la nouvelle doyenne wallonne” – RTC, 11 September 2020

* “La doyenne de Wallonie fête ses 110 ans!” – RTC, 18 March 2021

* “Marcelle Lévaz, la doyenne de Belgique, souffle ses 111 bougies et reste “un vrai petit rayon de soleil”” – RTBF, 16 March 2022

* “Marcelle Lévaz (1911-2022)” – Belgische eeuwelingen

GALLERY