{"id":48869,"date":"2021-05-25T14:03:54","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T14:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.museum-aarschot.be\/godfried-van-kerckhoven-1930-2013-2\/"},"modified":"2026-11-08T23:41:30","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T23:41:30","slug":"godfried-van-kerckhoven-mcmxxx-mmxiii-foreword","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.museum-aarschot.be\/en\/godfried-van-kerckhoven-mcmxxx-mmxiii-foreword\/","title":{"rendered":"Godfried Van Kerckhoven (1930-2013)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Foreword<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would like to pay a personal tribute here to Godfried Van Kerckhoven, whom many, myself included, have missed for a long time now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Godfried was one of my \u201cbest\u201d friends, ever since our student days, which brought us together in the famous \u2018de Spoelbergh\u2019 building, between our (the university\u2019s) Naamsestraat and their (the students\u2019) Oude Markt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who knew him called him \u201cFrie\u201d (dropping \u2018God\u2019 was not meant as any statement of substance, certainly not by me, and certainly not by \u2026 him). And he had many acquaintances, in his family and among his many friends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His professional ambition was the notariat, and he built it up successfully for some 40 years, from 1959 to 1998 (more than forty thousand deeds!) in Aarschot, as the youngest notary in Belgium and the first Dutch-speaking notary of the Leuven district. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We knew him, and we will go on remembering him, as a gentle man, modest, wise, sociable, respectful and humane towards everyone, not only towards his clients. He was a shrewd mediator, to the benefit of all. In this way he put out many family and other fires, and in his wide region he was called upon intensively for functions and assignments in many associations and community initiatives. He was an outspoken group person with a generous heart. He had good relations with his colleagues in the Leuven area and a good way beyond. He was a family notary through and through, who gave good advice patiently, shrewdly yet with propriety, and skilfully guided people through difficult arrangements and proceedings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he devoted himself to his family, was proud of his children and grandchildren, who did and still do well. His lovely Mia, whom he married in \u201962, supported him devotedly to his last day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roger Baron Dillemans, Honorary Rector of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mia Van Kerckhoven Jamar and Professor Roger Dillemans<\/strong> (Aarschot, 1972)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contents<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foreword
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I. Introduction.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

II. Grandparents<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

III. From Christ to God<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IV. Martyr of Aarschot<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

V. Parents<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VI. Brother Paul<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VII. Paul\u2019s marriage and family<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VIII. Brother Jos<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IX. Jos\u2019s marriage and family<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

X. Little brother who died<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

XI. Husbands are so time-consuming<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

XII. Canon Professor Van Buggenhout<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

XIII. Studies<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

XIV. Pro Rege<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

XV. Functions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

XVI. Notary<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

XVII. Marriage<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

XVIII. Frie and Mia had three children<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

XIX. Steenheuvels<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

XX. Anna and Marcel<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

XXI. Lions Club Aarschot<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

XXII. Champtercier<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

XXIII. The Word of God<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I. INTRODUCTION<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday 14 August 1930, Frie is born in the parental home. The evening before, his mother had given the shop windows a new look with the newest fabrics, to let shoppers heading for the weekly market daydream. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Clementina Van Kerckhoven Van Dyck<\/strong> with<\/strong> Aim\u00e9 Godfried<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clementina cannot accept the death of her three-year-old son Godfried and decides to give her newest baby the same name. The second Godfried is dedicated to Mother Mary. His parents make the promise that they will dress him in white and blue until his first communion, as a plea for Mary\u2019s grace to keep the child.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Aim\u00e9<\/strong> Godfried<\/strong> dressed<\/strong> in white and blue until his first communion.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

II. GRANDPARENTS.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Herman Van Kerckhoven<\/strong> (1853-1936) – Godfried\u2019s grandfather.

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Josephina Van Kerckhoven Vermaelen<\/strong> (1857-1918) – Godfried\u2019s grandmother.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Josephina bears Herman thirteen children, nine of whom reach adulthood:<\/strong> Sylvie (1878-1949), Clara (….-1951), Maria (….-….), Margaretha (1890-1960), Richard (….-….), Arthur (1892-1958), Bertha (1894-1963), Josephine (1899-1978), Elvire (1900-\u2026.) …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Herman Van Kerckhoven<\/strong> (1853-1936) – Godfried\u2019s grandfather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Herman Van Kerckhoven and his daughters Margaretha and Bertha.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note the mosaic floor and the hand-split marble blocks bearing the inscription \u201cGezusters Van Kerckhoven\u201d. On the ceiling the Aarschot painter Jacques Vanden Seylbergh (1884-1960) had painted a fresco. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

DE MOTTE<\/em><\/strong>, oil on canvas, 80x90cm – Jacques Vanden Seylbergh (1884-1960). Yellow is Frie\u2019s favourite colour. Yellow stands for wisdom, protection, learning, self-confidence, study, communication and the mind.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Herman sets up a shoe and boot making business. He employs twelve people. Work is also done for him at home. \u201cma\u00eetre chaussurier & bottier\u201d is engraved on a brass nameplate on the front of Leuvensestraat 5. You can not only have shoes repaired there, they are also made there. Officers ask Herman for military footwear. \u201cHis leadership transformed the Van Kerckhoven family. He was a man of progress. The directions he gave the family still guide our steps today.\u201d – Pieter <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Herman\u2019s leadership, which \u201ctransforms\u201d the family, is overshadowed by a scandal after the grief over the death of Josephina at the age of 60 in 1918. The Van Kerckhoven family stiffens after the patriarch has an affair with Maria Nijs, with whom he has another daughter. In the face of death he marries her in church. \u201cThe one from Buinnewaak (Bonewijk)\u201d is regarded as an illegitimate daughter and is disinherited in good time. It is a public secret. Frie and his brothers act as if she never existed. \u201cWe know nothing. There may well have been something …\u201d Whenever one of Frie\u2019s aunts dies, there is fear that the half-sister will come to claim her share of the inheritance. \u201cBut she won\u2019t get anything. The one from Naas gets nothing!\u201d The matter leads to a street fight between Guy, Frie\u2019s cousin, and a descendant of Maria Nijs, whom he knocks out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAccording to tradition, white chrysanthemums were laid in front of the tombs of our loved ones on All Saints\u2019 Day. For the hidden daughter Maria Nijs, who lay a little further away (her grave concession has meanwhile expired), we also said a little prayer, but she received no flowerpot. Every year I asked who she had been. With a moment of embarrassment my dad alluded to a relative by marriage without going into detail.\u201d- Pieter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To keep the truth silent is to bury gold. Pythagoras
<\/p>\n\n\n\n


III. FROM CHRIST TO GOD.
<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The photo shows the final resting place of the grandparents, Godfried\u2019s little brother, who was also called Godfried, and the seven sugar aunts. It is a burial vault in Aarschot with a statue of Jesus in brown ironstone sandstone. It bears the inscription \u2018Van Christus tot God\u2019. Canon, professor and lecturer in architecture and monument care at KU Leuven Raymond A.G. Lemaire (1878-1954) provided the design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IV.<\/strong> MARTYR OF AARSCHOT<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Richard and Louisa Vermaelen<\/strong> Van Capellen<\/strong> – Frie\u2019s great-uncle and great-aunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Louisa sees her husband shot down while she holds her daughter in her arms and is pregnant with his child. Her husband Richard is one of the 170 civilians shot dead by the Germans in Aarschot during the First World War. His son Richard becomes parish priest at the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk in Laken and will celebrate the wedding Mass of Godfried and Mia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The memorial card of Frie\u2019s great-uncle.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn many parts of the world I have seen terrible and revolting things, but nothing so ghastly, so horrifying as Aerschot.\u201d – Alexander Powell, American war correspondent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

V.<\/strong> FRIE\u2019S PARENTS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Arthur and Clementina Van Kerckhoven Van Dyck.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wedding portrait of Arthur and Clementina.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Arthur and Clementina have four sons together: Paul (1922-2011), Jos (1925-2005), Godfried (1926-1929) and Aim\u00e9 Godfried (1930-2013).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Arthur Van Kerckhoven<\/strong> (1892-1958) – Godfried\u2019s father.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00ab Qui multum tacet multum cogitat \u00bb<\/strong>
 \u201cHe who is silent much thinks much \u201d<\/strong>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August 1914 the German army takes Aarschot. The German authorities accuse the people of Aarschot of having shot their German colonel. Arthur, who speaks German, is forced to sign a document that is supposed to show that the people of Aarschot did indeed shoot the German colonel. Arthur refuses and is struck on the head for it. By refusing, the people of Aarschot officially remain cleared of responsibility for the death of the German colonel. Arthur has to abruptly break off his pharmacy studies in Leuven. He ends up in a labour camp in Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arthur escapes by the skin of his teeth and returns to Aarschot after eight months. He is weakened, ill and, from exhaustion, can hardly stand or walk any more. His sisters, who wait for him at the station, no longer recognise him. Afterwards Arthur continues to struggle with frail health. Arthur becomes secretary at the town hall, where he completes the population register in his careful handwriting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Arthur, Frie\u2019s father.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00ab Bona fide \u00bb
\u201cIn good faith\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DIGGING INTO A TRAUMA<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dispute with \u2018de Makke<\/strong>‘ requires attention:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018De Makke\u2019 had the first cinema in Aarschot. On the Buinnewaak. (Path\u00e9-M\u00e9tropole cinema, now the post office). Those were silent films at the time. \u2018De Makke\u2019 lived right above it and grumbled about how it all went. In the evening his daughter sat beside it, tinkling on a piano. She had to play softly while he was busy with his affairs. My father often called out: \u201cPlay a bit more quietly, for heaven\u2019s sake!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arthur\u2019s aunt was married to \u2018de Makke\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hot-tempered \u2018Makke\u2019 repeatedly abandons his family and leads a shadowy double life in Brussels. His wife comes to lament to her sister, Frie\u2019s grandmother, and often stays there with the children. Grandmother Josephina supports her financially and helps with the upbringing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cinema starts making a loss and \u2018Makke\u2019 puts one of his properties up for sale, namely Frie\u2019s parental home. Arthur is a prospective buyer. To pay off urgent debts, \u2018Makke\u2019 asks his nephew to pay for the house before the deed is executed. Arthur assumes the other man acts in good faith and pays the full asking price in cash, without a contract. When the deed is executed, Arthur walks into the trap. Convincingly, \u2018de Makke\u2019 explains that he has received nothing. The swindled man files a complaint but can cite no legal ground. Arthur has to put money on the table a second time for the property. Only after the settlement of the swindler\u2019s estate can Arthur breathe a sigh of relief and reclaim his money. After this affair, Arthur\u2019s trust in people has dropped sharply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sugar aunt Josse targets the cheat and publicly squares up to him. During a cinema screening, a man with a suitcase stands on an empty platform at a deserted station. Josse drags the owner right through the screen; she gets up from her cinema seat and shouts: \u201cThere\u2019s \u2018de Makke\u2019, with his suitcase! He\u2019s off to Brussels again!\u201d The audience reacts with stifled laughter. Josse snubs the rascal every time she calls after him in the street: \u201c\u2018De Makke\u2019 can\u2019t s*** because his a** is sewn shut\u201d<\/i>!”<\/em> The refined sister Elvire puts a hand over her eyes at the embarrassing display, but is also critical of the good relationship Frie has with the descendants of \u2018Makke\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis buried-in-snow story was often told during my childhood by great-aunt Elvire and confirmed by my father and uncles. At the age of seven I decided to take revenge and went to the house of a descendant who was then staying in California to buy a Cadillac not imported into Europe. I smashed all the windows of that house, threw mattresses from top to bottom, peed on the floor, flung crockery and glasses around and tipped out onto the floor pots of paint that were ready for the painter. The neighbours came to see what was going on. My father was informed and gave me a serious hiding. Before the owners came back from the States, my mother had the damage repaired in great haste.\u201d – Pieter
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00ab Experientia optima rerum magistra \u00bb \u201cExperience is the best teacher\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lorsqu’un ami vous demande de l’argent \u00e0 emprunter, voyez lequel des deux vous voulez perdre. Jean Antoine Petit-Senn (1792-1870)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Clementina Van Kerckhoven Van Dyck<\/strong> (1897-1963) – Godfried\u2019s mother.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Frie\u2019s mother as a student at a boarding school in Charleroi.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tinneke Van Dyck – Frie\u2019s mother.<\/strong>
Clementina comes from the Meulenberg and is known as Tinneke. She plays the piano beautifully and gives lessons to her grandson Guy Van Kerckhoven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Frie\u2019s parental home<\/strong> – Martelarenstraat 34, Aarschot.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Clementina, who has a commercial bent, Arthur invests in a fabric and fur coat shop located at Martelarenstraat 34. It is bustling, and people come from far away. Afterwards Arthur buys several commercial properties in the town centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As a child, Frie once stands outside on the doorstep. His older brother lowers the heavy roller shutter but loses control of the crank. The big shutter shoots down and lands on Frie\u2019s little head. Frie briefly loses consciousness. Fear grips Tinneke\u2019s heart; she fears losing her second little Godfried too. Fortunately our young hero has \u201ca hard head\u201d!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Frie at his mother\u2019s side.<\/strong>
Frie and his brothers gratefully praise the unflagging industry of their mother, who is the heart of the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Arthur\u2019s Minerva is one of the first cars in Aarschot.<\/strong>
Arthur buys a Dodge in the Jozef II-straat in Brussels, in which he visits the wholesalers of fashion fabrics every week with Clementina (including where the comic strip museum is now located). If an oncoming vehicle approaches on the Brusselsesteenweg, Arthur quickly pulls over to the side to prevent an accident!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Frie and his mother.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A photo worth looking at: Frie with his <\/strong>parents<\/span> in Duisburg.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the Second World War the family flees to Larochelle. As a result Frie does not go to school for months. After the Second World War Arthur drives towards Duisburg to see the destruction caused by the bombings.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VI.<\/strong> BROTHER PAUL.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Paul Van Kerckhoven<\/strong> (1922-2011)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Paul Van Kerckhoven<\/strong> (1922-2011)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Paul, his father and aunts Clara and Margaretha.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Paul and Frie.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

VII. MARRIAGE AND FAMILY OF PAUL VAN KERCKHOVEN<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1949 Arthur and Clementina give Paul permission to marry Miss Leentje Gybels. She is the daughter of Doctor Gybels, who lived on the Grote Markt in Aarschot (today the ING bank branch).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Doctor Marcel Gybels<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mrs Gybels, the mother-in-law of Paul Van Kerckhoven.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Frie on the spare wheel, parents, brother and sister-in-law.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Der beste Freund wird wahrscheinlich die beste Gattin bekommen, Weil die gute Ehe auf dem Talent zur Freundschaft beruhrt. F. Nietzsche <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Frie, Paul and Leentje.<\/strong> (photo: 1964)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul starts his career as a physician in Watermael-Boitsfort, where he builds a happy and sociable life with Leentje. Paul even obtained a certificate that allows him to take X-rays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Father Arthur drops a bombshell on the happy life of Paul and Leentje. He obliges them to come back to Aarschot. In this way the financial interests of the Van Kerckhoven family remain based in Aarschot. There is support (and opposition) from the team of sugar aunts. They buy for the couple the town house in Aarschot where Doctor Liekens has his flourishing practice. Liekens is turned out by Paul\u2019s sugar aunts. Paul bows to his father\u2019s wish. He turns round, back towards Aarschot. It is a return with which the couple will go on having a hard time for the rest of their lives. Their children personally bring the rent in cash to the aunts every month. Of course this causes internal tensions. Paul and Leentje have to get through it together, and they can take a knock. Leentje believes in her children: \u201cI want to get ahead and we are going to get ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul is a horse lover and an appreciated pianist. His repertoire consists mainly of Chopin, Brahms and Beethoven. Paul plays the organ of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk in Aarschot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Leentje Van Kerckhoven Gybels<\/strong> (1925-2014) (photo: 1976)
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAccording to my godmother Leentje, the origin of our surname is fitting, and we are named after a trait of a lineage that drags its patrimony along with them to the churchyard.
As a child I sometimes stayed with my godmother and searched all the cupboards, chests of drawers and bedside tables in her house with fifteen bedrooms. That is how I came across 33 rpm LPs by Jacques Brel. I was surprised, because my father hated \u2018that left-wing scoundrel who laughs at the Flemings\u2019. Leentje taught me that a song can have not only a pleasant-sounding melody but also an interesting text, and that you must learn to appreciate other opinions.\u201d – Pieter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FOUR CHILDREN ARE BORN FROM THE MARRIAGE,<\/strong>
Luc (1949), Guy (1951), Geertje (1953) and Karl (1956).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whenever a child is born in the family of Paul and Leentje, a sugar aunt dies that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lawyer Luc Van Kerckhoven together with his wife and fellow lawyer Marietje Rutten. <\/strong>(photo: 1976)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Prof. Dr. Guy Van Kerckhoven<\/strong> (photo: 1976)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mieke Van Kerckhoven Fannes<\/strong> – art historian – painter<\/strong>, wife of Prof. Dr. Guy Van Kerckhoven. (photo: 1976) www.miekefannes.be
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Geertrui Lomm\u00e9e Van Kerckhoven<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pieter and Geertrui Van Kerckhoven<\/strong> \u201cthe warm side of the family\u201d (photo: 2020)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Karl Van Kerckhoven, jurist, married to Ria Goossens, Geertje<\/strong> Van Kerckhoven<\/strong> jurist<\/strong> and married to Paul Lomm\u00e9e<\/strong> – Gert, Ilse and Pieter. (photo: 1973)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

notary<\/strong> Paul Lommee<\/strong> – husband of Geertje Van Kerckhoven.<\/strong> (photo: 1976)<\/p>\n\n\n\n