Paul Van Roey, legendary teacher in Antwerp colleges, passed away (Antwerp)
The following Saturday, Paul Van Roey (97) will be said goodbye in the Chrysanthemum hall of the Antwerp crematorium. The legendary teacher of the Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege, Sint-Lievenscollege and Onze-Lieve-Vrouwecollege will be remembered by generations as the man who taught the ‘spoken word’. Van Roey was also an actor and director.
Van Roey was born in Herentals and originated at Studio Herman Teirlinck, where he was one of the first graduates in 1949. Jef Burm, Ward De Ravet and Dora Van der Groen were contemporaries and fellow students with whom he entered the theater. He did freelance work for radio and television and later also chose education. There he warmed his colleagues to the stage. In the 1980s, for example, he directed the teacher drama in Sint-Jan, which drew full houses in the Wilrijkse hall De Kern. Among other things Blood and Love† The Wise Hangover and The Parish of Miseriethat brought an ode to this Antwerp working-class district, he staged.
Whoever had Van Roey in front of the class will never forget that. He had his own style of teaching, jumped effortlessly from language and diction to general life lessons and jokes, and protections are sharp with tongue twisters like ‘Knap the Handsome Hairdresser’which they practice at home and then perform them flawlessly.
golden years
A few years ago, Van Roey contacted Gazet van Antwerpen to bring those golden years back to mind. “Perhaps you still remember me vaguely. In illo tempore I sporadically came to your class to speak about speaking. I am now 95, my wife has left for eternity and oh, how grateful I would be if you would earn a few more words from me in your newspaper.” We did it then, and now gladly again, as a tribute. Van Roey had four children and twelve grandchildren, who also took care of a whole series of great-grandchildren. Van Roey passed away in Wilrijk, Thursday 24 February.
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