Xaveriuscollege classmates from class of ’61 still see each other: “A few boys leave for a few years” (Antwerp)

Classmates of 1961 of Xavier’s College in Borgerhout celebrate their 61st anniversary. What was once a group of teenage boys is today a gang of – in their own words – old, but 79- to 80-year-old core nerds. Old friends who still want to get together. They did just that at the city hall in Antwerp this week.

Not all classes are there. “We graduated with a class of 38 boys, and in the meantime twelve have died and three have dementia. Another lives in Spain and another is currently visiting his son in America. But those who can still come love to come to our meetings. We have a large group of classmates and girls every year. Going on a cycling holiday, we’ve already cycled 50,000 kilometers in total. This is the first year we’ve all needed an electric bicycle,” says Ray Meermans, who organizes the annual meetings.

It may not always be about the good old days at those gatherings, but they still like to reminisce about the 61st anniversary. “I especially remember that the school was very strict. I was once expelled from college for three days by the priests because someone saw me walking hand in hand with a girl in the Riverenhof area. Fortunately, my father was a hairdresser and father cut hair. As a result, they gave me a little less punishment. Times have changed,” laughs Ray.

If we are to believe the boys, the class of 1961 was a class full of good boys. “We didn’t dare to spread too much mischief. I remember the day when three students took us out of the classroom for a medical check-up. The nurses handed out name cards with the names of the next three students in the class whose turn it was. I kept those cards and gave them out myself, so that every student until the whole class was empty. There was an excuse to leave the classroom, and the father thought we were all undergoing a medical examination,” classmate Piet de Wael recalled.

The men were invited by Alderman Annick de Ridder (N-VA) to Antwerp City Hall this week, where they continued to share memories. “We also gave fathers nicknames like De Cactus, De Klink, Den Blatter, Den Borentoren and Head Struen Dog. Math always started on Monday morning with a question about how everyone did in the football game or with me in basketball. If we lost, he would have failed.

“That man was the smartest in the class, I mean Cust Ords.” Meanwhile, Ray points out a man looking for Latin letters at City Hall. “Our Latin may be a little rusty, but the basics are still there,” says Gust, who is not only smart but also the most useful of the bunch. He is the technical director of the annual cycling holidays. So everyone has their share.

Elite

If we are to believe the important seniors, the class of ’61 was an exceptional crop. “Everybody from one or two classes started university studies and usually finished successfully. We were eight doctors, two apothecaries, two architects, including now a poet, two clergymen, and a lawyer, Richard Fogg. How are we so smart? We always observed closely in class. And to be fair, at that time, students were asked every year to move to a different school if their performance was satisfactory. “The college was very advanced at the time,” Ray said.

Apart from cycling holidays, the next big meeting is the group’s 65th anniversary in 2026. “It’s coffee grounds to see who will be there. We all grow old one day, and every few years some classmates drop out. Recently we visited one of our classmates at a residential care center. He remains there after the effects of a brain haemorrhage. As colleagues they are matters of conflict, but as we can, we continue to meet the boys from it.