Hans and Alice de Pijnacker Noord have been married for 65 years

Sat. 22 April, 07:08
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They have lived in Pijnacker since 1969. On the Noordweg, in the house with the inscription ‘De Leeuwenkuil’. Things have been peaceful for 54 years at De Leeuwenkuil, owned by Hans van Leeuwen and Alice Santen, who celebrated their 65th birthday on Easter Sunday, April 9. Mayor Björn Lugthart came to congratulate the couple on Wednesday April 12 at their home in Noordweg.

The couple had celebrated the very cozy party at home on their real wedding day with their four children and nine grandchildren. They have four children: Hugo, Marc, Monica and David. Monica lives closest, in Delft, Hugo lives with his family in Eindhoven, Marc has a job in Poitiers, France, and the youngest, David, lives in Amersfoort. Hans and Alice came to live in Pijnacker in 1969, because Hans was able to work as a professor of theoretical physics at TU Delft. Around this time, Hans and his family returned from the United States, where Hans worked for two periods at universities. From 1963 to 1965 and from 1967 to 1969. Until 1986 he was affiliated with the TU Delft, then he was professor of physics at the University of Leiden until the age of 65. Until a few years ago, Hans van Leeuwen had a workspace there where he occasionally stayed. In 2018, Hans van Leeuwen made national headlines with a study of exactly what happens in physics during skating in terms of friction. On the Internet you will find a detailed Volkskrant article about this. The couple also skated together for a long time in De Uithof.

Meeting
Hans (90) and Alice (92), both Catholics by birth, met around 1956 at a faith-building course in Amsterdam. Hans is from Heerhugowaard and was born into a teaching family with four children. Alice came from Heemstede. His father was an accountant and had six children by his first wife who died young. And ten children from his second wife, Alice’s mother. “The children of the first batch were already grown when we were children, but we did not have to tell them you,” says Alice, who specifies that her father dates from 1871. He was therefore already in his sixties when Alice was born. Hans and Alice have always enjoyed living in Pijnacker. The children went to school Jozef, Alice played tennis and they always went and always go to the Catholic Church. For physics professor Hans van Leeuwen, science and faith go hand in hand without any problems. “Science is research and facts. Faith is about good and evil and they cannot be captured in a scientific model. Science also has limits. While Hans was mostly busy with his job, Alice was mostly taking care of the family. When she was given more space, she was still a French teacher at the Moedermavo in Pijnacker. She looks back on this period with joy. A major problem – also during the mayor’s visit – for Alice is that her hearing has been severely and irreparably impaired for five years. Speaking slowly and clearly while looking at her is the best remedy. “I understand you least well,” she told Hans. “Dear, but what I’m saying has been known to you for a long time,” says Hans, who can’t get away with it. Alice just wants to be able to follow the conversation! Hans says that after his retirement he was still active for a while at the Wijkvereniging Pijnacker-Noord. “At the time, we were mainly busy talking about the renovation of the Pijnacker-Noord district and fighting against municipal plans to erect large residential buildings in certain places. We were then able to help prevent this.

good conversation
All sorts of topics are discussed, such as the possible idea of ​​a center for asylum seekers in Pijnacker. Mr. Van Leeuwen would like to see how the mayor would act in such a case. He also wants to know from the mayor if he likes Pijnacker-Nootdorp! The mayor thinks it’s a good place to live here, as the Van Leeuwen couple have always loved living here. And even. Despite their advanced age, they are still perfectly capable of living independently!