‘We haven’t told the kids he’s gone yet…it’s too soon’

It was passers-by who gave the alert early Thursday evening. While strolling along the water, they were surprised to see a vehicle and fishing equipment, without the slightest trace of the owner. They therefore contacted the emergency services, which began the search. After about an hour, the divers from the fire department unfortunately extracted the lifeless body of the septuagenarian from the water.

A victim named Roger Maene. At 78, this retiree loved fishing in the Gistel stream. As the Nieuwsblad reports, he was there almost every day. This Thursday was therefore a day like any other for him: he was caught with a friend but the catches were not good. “I had more luck in my creek. I will go back tonight, ”he told his friend who could not accompany him.

So Roger went alone to the Gistel stream. The rest is unfortunately known. He leaves behind a daughter, Isabelle (51), a grandchild and two great-grandchildren aged 9 months and 3 years old. “They were really his pride and his joy”, confides to our colleagues his daughter. “We haven’t told them he’s gone yet. It’s too early. Dad will be greatly missed. He was a real party animal, he liked to be around everyone and was a popular figure. Ask anyone in Bekegem if they know Roger and they will nod,” she adds.

A new drama for a family that has not had an easy life. “Mom had a stroke when she was 32. She died ten years later, in 1987. Since then, dad did everything by himself,” says Isabelle. If Roger took time to enjoy life again, he finally managed to have fun again.

Roger was going to celebrate his 79th birthday this Saturday, August 6. It will unfortunately be for his funeral that his family will meet that day at the church in Bekegem.

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