Jan Goossenaerts

Joannes "Jan" Aloïsius Goossenaerts (30 October 1900 – 21 March 2012) was a Belgian supercentenarian. Following the death of Stanley Lucas of the United Kingdom, he was the oldest verified living man in Europe. At the time of his death he was the world's 3rd-oldest living man.

Biography
Goossenaerts was born in the community of Horendonk, in Essen, to Josephus "Jozef" Goossenaerts and Joanna Van Ginneken.

Goossenaerts married Catharina Van Meel (18 August 1909 – 2 July 1997) on 18 January 1930. They were married for 67 years, until her death. They had five children: Irma (78) and Marcel (74) are deceased. Maria, Frans, and Jozef are still living.

He worked as a mason and retired at the age of 65.

Life
Goossenaerts lived in a nursing home in Essen, Antwerp, since 2007. He took up residence there at age 106. Goossenaerts was in moderate shape. He was still able to walk, but rarely left his room. He has reported that his secret to longevity is to work hard and eat two slices of bread with pear syrup every morning.

On 18 January 2011, Goossenaerts became the second oldest Belgian male ever born, surpassing Louis Marion at 110 years, 79 days. On 20 May 2011, Goossenaerts, aged 110 years 202 days, became one of the 100 oldest men on record.