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Stael Maurits Biography

Belgian centenarian who was the oldest living man in Belgium from April 2018 until his death on 24 January 2020 in Beernem at age 108. Stael was born into a family of eleven children. His parents, Edward Stael and Leonie Verhaeghe, were farmers and at the same time proprietors of the inn Den Hert, near the castle of Wijnendale. He initially worked as a farmer in Wijnendale. In 1939-1940 he was mobilized and took part in the Eighteen Days Campaign. In 1941 he married Maria Devooght (deceased in 2003). They had four children. In 1945 he and his wife founded a business in sewing machines in Torhout. In 1974 he left the business to his son, Frans, who in turn left it to his son Dries in 2016. From 2012 Stael stayed in the Rusterloo nursing home in Beernem. From the death of 106-year-old Gustaaf Leclercq on 5 April 2018, Stael was the oldest man in Belgium. Link to Wikipedia biography (Dutch) Read less