The liberation of Eindhoven, the construction of the Evoluon and the establishment of the Drents Dorp. The average resident has heard of these from the history books, but Hinke Klaver-De Vries has experienced them all. At 107 years old, she is the oldest resident of the city.
“Work out a lot and stay busy,” she sums up her secret to a long life. It was not always an easy life. In 1930 she moved with her parents from Leeuwarden to Eindhoven. Her father had got a job at Philips. However, there was one condition: one of the children also had to work in the factory. So it happened that Hinke was already working in the light bulb factory on Emmasingel at the age of 14.
Child labor
She had to measure the contact points of the light bulbs. A seemingly simple task, but the bar was set high. “We as newcomers had to do 7,000 a day, while the experienced employees didn’t even reach 6,000. Just child labour,” she sighs.
Eight years later, her working life came to a temporary end. She married her beloved Jan Klaver. In those days getting married meant she had to stop working. However, sitting still was and is not something for the oldest inhabitant of Eindhoven. In the years that followed, Hinke became a handball instructor and gave swimming lessons. In her own words, she taught ‘half of Eindhoven’ to swim.
Royal award
It wasn’t until she was in her late eighties that she decided to slow down in physical sports, as the 107-year-old had now discovered games on the tablet. With Wordfeud, online scrabble, she still shows her granddaughters ‘a tough match’. “It’s a pity that she still beats us, but we wish her success,” says granddaughter Janine Jongepier with a smile.
Hinke is not only successful in mind sports. Now in nursing home Peppelrode, Hinke can look back on a successful life as well, receiving a royal decoration for her efforts as a swimming teacher in 1996.
Source: Studio040
For Eindhoven News: Lila Mehrez
