Ostender Alfons Declerck is now the oldest man in Belgium after Jos Kets from Berlaar (Antwerp Province) died at the age of 107. Alfons, who was born in Bristol in the West of England, explains a brisk stroll is the secret to his longevity.
Alfons Declerck was born in 1917 in the English city of Bristol. His parents, like so many Ostenders, had fled to England during the First World War. After the war, the family returned to Ostend (West Flanders). Alfons was the youngest of eight children. He married Suzanne Pottier, 5 years his junior, but she died in 2004 at the age of 83. Alfons has 2 daughters: Anita (80) and Patricia (75).
A brisk stroll has always been a big part of Alfons’s life. When he went to live in a rest home in 2003, he would take two 2-hour walks every day! To save his heart, he eventually had to slow down. In 2017, when had just turned 100, he still walked a half an hour daily.
Now walking is more difficult, but according to Alfons, a brisk stroll every day is his secret to his longevity. In a few months, he will turn 108.