Paulina Petrus/Van Opstal (photo courtesy of Jan Scholliers).
Polina "Paulina" Petrus/Van Opstal
Special thanks to Paulina's great grandson, Jan Scholliers, for providing photos and information about Paulina and her descendants.
Paulina Petrus was the daughter of Joseph Petrus and Christina Meynaerts.
Paulina married Henri Van Opstal who was a butcher. They lived in Louvain and had 4 children:
Herman Van Opstal. Born in 1887, Herman died as a young man.
Marie Christina Van Opstal. Marie Christina was born in1888 and died approximately 1972.
Marie Elisa Van Opstal. Marie Elisa was born in 1891 and died in 1892.
Maria Hemelaers and Evarist Jules Van Opstal.
Evariste Jules Van Opstal. Evarist was born in 1894 and died in 1985. He married Maria Hemelaers in or around 1920. They had two daughters.
Johanna Van Opstal. Johanna was born in 1921 and married Etienne "Stef" Scholliers in 1946. They married in 1946 and had two children, Jan Scholliers (born 1947 and married to Ada Kieboom) and Fanny Scholliers (born 1954).
Johanna became a 'master of history' at the university of Gent, where she met my father Etienne 'Stef' Scholliers, also an historian.... My mother has memories of Gustave and Alphonse Petrus and his son Alphonse 'Jeff' coming to Belgium in 1937. She was 16 then and she guided them trough Antwerp. -- Jan Scholliers
Paula Van Opstal. Paula was born in 1929 and died in 1955.
Henri Van Opstal and son Evariste in front of their butcher shop in Louvain. The picture of my grandfather before his butcher-store has to be made just before the first World War. My mother told me now that the house burned when the Germans set fire to Louvain in the summer of 1914. So the picture is probably taken in 1913 or 1914. -- Jan Scholliers
Detail of photo above.
Paulina Petrus in the garden. Beginning from the right: her husband Henri, Paulina, her son in law Maurice Cuypers, her daughter Marie (I have met Maurice and Marie several times in the 1950' s and 60's) Finally her son in law Alfons Counson, husband of her sister Justina. This would suggest that Justina took the picture. The baby is supposed to be my mother, in which case the picture has to be made in 1923 (mother born Sept 1921) -- Jan Scholliers.
Email comments and suggestions to Keith Petrus at ckpetrus@mac.com
