| Sylvain Vallee | |
 Sylvain Vallée on his 109th birthday in 2021 | |
| Birth: | 17 May 1912 Boussu, Hainaut, Belgium |
| Death: | 25 July 2021 Houyet, Namur, Belgium |
| Age: | 109 years, 69 days |
| Country: |  BEL
|
| Centenarian | |
Sylvain Vallee [Vallée] (17 May 1912 – 25 July 2021) was a Belgian centenarian who had been reportedly the oldest living man in Belgium, and all of BeNeLux.
Biography
Sylvain Vallee was born in Boussu, Hainaut, Belgium on 17 May 1912 to Sylvain Vallée and Julie Debaisse. After leaving school aged 14, he went to work in a mine. He worked there until 1943, when he was called up to serve in World War II.
After the war, Vallée settled in Brussels, and for a time he worked in the royal castle of Laeken. He then set up his own paintwork company, while his wife started a drugstore.
In 2014, at the age of 102, Vallee and his wife (several years his junior) moved to a retirement home in Mesnil-Saint-Blaise (Houyet), province of Namur. She died there in March 2017.
He became the oldest living man in Belgium following the death of 108-year-old Maurice Stael on 24 January 2020.
He also became the oldest living man in the BeNeLux following the death of 109-year-old Eelke Bakker of Netherlands on 3 May 2020.
On 17 May 2021, Vallee turned 109 as the first Belgian man to reach this milestone since Jan Goossenaerts in 2009.
He died on 25 July 2021 in Houyet, Namur, Belgium at age 109 years, 69 days. He was suceeded as the BeNeLux's oldest living man by a then 107-year-old Dutchman and Belgium's oldest man by Antwerp's 107-year-old Jef Smets (1914-2021).
Gallery
References
- Belgische eeuwelingen - Centenaires belges Sylvain Vallée (1912-) Belgische eeuwelingen - Centenaires belges, 24 May 2018
- Houyet : Sylvain Vallée a fêté ses 107 ans Matele, 15 May 2019
- Houyet: à 107 ans, Sylvain Vallée est le nouveau doyen des Belges La Province, 26 January 2020
- Terre de centenaires L'avenir, 17 May 2021
- Houyet: Sylvain Vallée, le doyen des Belges et du Benelux, est mort à 109 ans Matele, 26 July 2021
| Belgium's Oldest Living Man Titleholders (V • E) |
|
Julien Sterckx • Edmond Van Cauteren • Pieter Hinnisdaels • Clement de Vos • Polydoor Vandersypt • Eugene Naniot • Cesar Dassonville • Lievin Pelfrene • Francois Rygaert • Albert de Selliers de Moranville • Dictus Bomans • Jules-Leo Neijrinck • Emiel Vanderhaegen • Petrus Van de Voorde • Jozef de Koker • Paul Henrard • Louis Marion • Georges Nevejans • Marcel Duguet • Jos de Kort • Jan Goossenaerts • Oscar Coulembier • Aime Wille • Jacques Clemens • Gustavus Leclercq • Maurice Stael • Sylvain Vallee • Jef Smets • Jaak Broekx • Albert Van Raemdonck • Benedictus Bellens• Alfons Leempoels• Jozef Kets |
Template:Titleholders-oldest-living-man-Benelux