Couple from Limburg celebrates 83rd wedding anniversary

Today, Friday, marks exactly 83 years since Eduard Cuyvers (102) and Angeline Haeseldonckx (100) were united in marriage. This makes the couple from Houthalen-Helchteren, in the province of Limburg, the longest-married couple in Belgium. Worldwide, there are only five couples who have been married longer than Eduard and Angeline.

In the middle of the Second World War, on 30 January 1943, Eduard Cuyvers and Angeline Haeseldonckx promised each other eternal fidelity. “Those were bizarre times,” Eduard recalls of his wedding day. “It wasn't really a big party. Angeline was pregnant and it was a quiet wedding.”

The couple moved from Geel to Houthalen-Helchteren, where Eduard set up the concrete plant Echo. Over the years, the family grew steadily with four sons, ten grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren.

A few years ago, Angeline moved into the Het Dorp residential care home. Eduard visits her there every day. “I'm still in reasonably good health, but hers is not so good,” he says. “She is bedridden, although she is doing a little better today. I visit her every day, give her dinner in her room in the evening and help her where necessary.”

According to the couple, communication, both in good times and bad, is the secret to staying together for so long.

In 2023, the couple celebrated their oak wedding anniversary with a big party and received congratulations from King Philippe. Due to Angeline's fragile health, there was no big party for their 83rd wedding anniversary. However, their big family did visit the residential care centre to congratulate the couple and raise a glass to their special anniversary.

^{#FlandersNewsService | Eduard Cuyvers and Angeline Haeseldonckx celebrate their 83rd wedding anniversary © BELGA PHOTO MARC DIRIX}