| Leny Mackenbach | |
 Leny Mackenbach as an older woman. | |
| Birth: | 29 December 1912 Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands |
| Death: | 3 December 2023 Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands |
| Age: | 110 years, 339 days |
| Country: |  NED
|
| Validated | |
Helena "Leny" Barbara Maria Mackenbach (29 December 1912 – 3 December 2023) was a Dutch supercentenarian whose age is validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG). She was the oldest known living person in the Netherlands at the time of her death.
Biography[]
Leny Mackenbach was born in Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands on 29 December 1912. Her birth certificate shows that the originally given name 'Barbera' was later changed to 'Barbara'.
The Mackenbach family initially consisted of father, working in the police, mother and five children: two girls and three boys. Leny was the eldest, she was born on 29 December 1912. Brother Jan, with whom she played a lot, died when he was two. Her brother John also died young and mother followed. There were still four of them when they became residents at the Van Bijnkershoekweg in Rotterdam-Schiebroek in 1959. Brother Ben died in 1963.
Why did those two elderly sisters still live with their father? Why had the boys in the family died so early? The answer lies in the disease hemophilia, a condition in which the blood does not clot sufficiently. The three Mackenbach brothers suffered from constant internal bleeding and were in and out of hospitals. Hemophilia dominated the life of this Rotterdam family. Women carry the gene, men get it. Diny and Leny, as she was affectionately called, had nothing to fear themselves, but they looked to the future. The sisters were devout Catholics and getting married and having children was automatically on the agenda. But that created an immense problem here: the hated hemophilia would be passed on. A marriage without children was not an option because of religion, so the sisters made a rigorous decision: they would never marry. They had experienced too much misery with hemophilia, a disease that at that time could not yet be effectively combated. First they stayed with their father and after his death the sisters were condemned to each other. Diny was clearly the caring type, while Leny was not born for housework. She never cooked, that was the job of her younger sister, on whom she became dependent.
Leny Mackenbach was a teacher at the Gerardus Majella school in Rotterdam-Schiebroek. The school was first only for boys, later it became the merged Fatima school for boys and girls. ‘Miss Leny’ was known as strict but extremely friendly and loved children. Even after she retired, former students continued to contact her, she was so popular. When she turned 110 in December 2022, postcards from former students poured in.
Diny Mackenbach was an executive secretary in The Hague, where she drove every day in her dark red DAF, type Daffodil. She was the busy one of the two, she cleaned the house, did the shopping and took care of everything. Often with the explanation: “Leny is in bed”. Could it be that in many cases there was nothing wrong with her? This can also be linked to her brothers’ hemophilia. As the eldest child, all the attention in the family suddenly went to his sick brother Jan. And then another brother and another. Diny could deal with that. Not only did she drive her brothers back and forth to the hospital, her mobility made her more able to live her own life and go out into the wide world. It was different for Leny, especially after she retired, who was tired of the attention.
And then there was that boy next door, that foster child of both of them. The son they never had, a loss that undoubtedly caused them great sadness. “Are you still our child?” Diny asked when I was about fourteen. “Not formally anymore,” was my witty answer, because I already knew that ‘no’ would be too painful and ‘yes’ too sticky.
I didn’t see either of them very often after that, until I decided to ring the doorbell about six years prior. Diny walked from the kitchen to the living room with her walker and gave me tea and a cookie. Leny said goodbye, but was lying in bed. The apartment was luxurious, the view was beautiful, the sisters seemed to have a great life together. There were thick novels in the room. Leny asked her sister to read books in advance, a kind of preview, to warn her about possible sex scenes. She was as chaste as a nun.
Diny Mackenbach (1919–2018) died at the age of 99 in 2018; Until a few years earlier she still drove a car. In the past year I visited Leny a few times, who had now become bedridden. Her cousins, Jan and Riet Willemsen, came to visit every Friday afternoon. Riet prepared food for the whole week, with daily portions in Tupperware in the freezer. It only needed to be thawed and warmed up by Humanitas employees. The staff came up to eight times a day to check on her. She had deteriorated mentally and normal conversation was no longer possible. Usually when I said something to her, she just said “yes” or something unintelligible. She drank and ate well. Chocolate, apple pie, oliebollen: everything was delicious.
The last time I see Leny was 17 November 2023, two weeks before her death. I first drive along the Meidoornsingel in Schiebroek, where the walls of the Roman Catholic Resurrection Church are being demolished that day. Yet another victim of secularization. The church where I was baptized and made my first communion, the church where the ladies Mackenbach have walked so many steps. Diny was on the church board and for her efforts she received the papal award Pro Ecclesia et Pontifici (For Church and Pope). Upon arrival, Jan and Riet Willemsen tell us that Leny is remarkably bright and sweet today. “She grabbed my hand, so you know she appreciates it.” When I sit down by her bed and tell her I’m there, ‘Paultje’, her eyes suddenly open wide: “Paultje!” With another “yes” as a greeting, those are the last words she speaks to me. More than a week later, Leny Mackenbach is struck by pneumonia and it is clear that she does not have long to live. Jan and Riet Willemsen sit vigil with her in the evening when she takes her last breath, three weeks before she would turn 111 years old. “She suddenly stood up and nodded. As if she wanted to say goodbye to life with a bow.”
Leny Mackenbach passed away in Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands on 3 December 2023 at the age of 110 years, 339 days, just 26 days short of her 111th birthday. Following her death, then-110-year-old Marina van der Es-Siewers became the oldest known living person in Netherlands and the Benelux.
Longevity Recognition[]
Leny Mackenbach became the oldest known living person in the Netherlands, following the death of 110-year-old Ebeltje Boekema-Hut on 11 June 2022. Following the death of 111-year-old Magda Janssens of Belgium on 18 September 2023, she became the oldest known living person in the Benelux.
In December 2022, Mackenbach celebrated her 110th birthday and became a supercentenarian.
Age Validation[]
Leny Mackenbach’s age was verified by Messrs. Gert Jan Kuiper and Jair van Dijk, GRG-Netherlands Correspondents, and Mr. Paul Verspeek, and validated by the GRG on 18 November 2023.
Gallery[]
References[]
- GRG World Supercentenarian Rankings List Gerontology Research Group
- Heleen Mackenbach Gerontology Research Group
- Wieringse Marina (109) toch niet oudste van Nederland, Rotterdamse is net iets ouder NH Nieuws, 30 September 2022
- Oudste Nederlander, Rotterdamse Heleen Mackenbach (110), overleden Rijnmond, 7 December 2023
- Leny Mackenbach (1912-2023), Doyenne of the Netherlands Gerontology Research Group, 7 December 2023