Longevity ~ Elisabeth van Dongen-Kranendonk (98)

As a child, my mother regularly sent me to a farm, half a kilometer away along the dike, to buy eggs. The Van Dongen family had chickens.
Another memory I have is that, as a child, I could distinguish the tractors of the various farmers in the area, not only because of different brands, but also because of different driving styles. Van Dongen was one of the farmers I could hear driving up from the small road in the polder.

Among the death notices I recently found in the attic of my parents' house, I came across a card for the mother of the Van Dongen I knew, who turned out to have lived to be well over 98 years old!

Elizabeth “Betje” Kranendonk was well over 98 years old when she passed away on September 20, 1997, in Strijen at the “Avondrust” care center, now known as “Hoge Weide”. She is buried in the small cemetery of Cillaarshoek, where various members of the Bos family have also found their final resting place.

For privacy reasons, I have cut out the section regarding the remaining family members.

Betje married Pieter van Dongen in Maasdam on November 3, 1921. He was born in Maasdam on August 29, 1897, as the son of Cornelis van Dongen (1850-1927) and Krijna Noordermeer (1859-1922). Therfore, it's not surprising that they named their two children Cornelis and Krijna.

In the last five years of the 19th century, only one Elisabeth Kranendonk was born in the entire Hoeksche Waard. In Maasdam, on December 13, 1898, Cornelis Kranendonk (1867-1928) and Neeltje Hoogvliet (1870-1957) had a daughter named Elisabeth. Neeltje lived to be well over 87 years old, so Betje inherited her mother's good genes.