Remembering the Entrepreneurs of Flemish Brabant in 2023

We also had to say goodbye to several entrepreneurs from Flemish Brabant in 2023.

Café owner and market vendor Felix Claus / 1951 – 2023

On January 9 we said goodbye to Felix Claus. He was 72.

Claus was a well-known figure in Vilvoorde, where he ran Café de Koning van Spanje. In 1995, after a career as a market vendor, he took over the café on the Grote Markt and created it together with his family (his wife Jeannine Van Campenhout and two sons Steven and Johan). the place to be by. They kept the café open until the end of 2010, but its memory will live on for a long time.

“People still talk to us about it as if it were yesterday. Even though it has been so many years,” says Johan. “The same thing always comes back. That was a beautiful time. It was a bit of a homecoming for many people. It was a café with a soul. Everyone received a friendly word, a nice chat and a good pint in a clean glass. Because our dad insisted on that…”

Claus has been battling colon cancer since 2020.

Shopkeeper Koen Segers / 1973 – 2023

On April 13 we said goodbye to Koen Segers. He was 49.

Segers has operated the Kadotheek in Haacht since 2005. Just under ten years later he expanded his business with a Leonidas branch. He was also chairman of BeHaacht, the municipality’s traders’ association, for several years and organized numerous activities to put his fellow entrepreneurs in the spotlight.

“He will be greatly missed,” says Yet, who runs the clothing store of the same name in Haacht together with her daughter Valerie and was also a member of the merchants’ association with Koen. “He was not only a very nice man who was well liked, he also made enormous efforts as chairman, a commitment for which we are all very grateful.”

Segers leaves behind a wife and a son.

Tom Van Orshoven / 1944 – 2023

On July 6 we said goodbye to Tom Van Orshoven. He was 78.

Van Orshoven was the driving force behind the sleepwear and household linen store In Het Woud in Leuven. He died at home after an illness. He leaves behind a wife and three children.

Banker baron Paul-Emmanuel Janssen / 1931 – 2023

On September 10 we said goodbye to Paul-Emmanuel Janssen. He was 92.

Paul-Emmanuel was a descendant of the well-known Janssen banking family and was also a banker at Generale Bank all his life. In 1988 he became CEO of Generale Bank and chairman in 1992. After Generale Bank was taken over by Fortis in 1998, he resigned.

During his career, he was also chairman of the Belgian Banking Association, director and member of the management committee of the Federation of Belgian Enterprises (VBO) and served on the boards of directors of, among others, Solvay, Atlas Copco Sweden, Antwerp Diamant Bank and the Lhoist group.

Founder of e-bike brand Karim Slaoui / 1987 – 2023

On October 5 we said goodbye to Karim Slaoui. He was 36.

Slaoui founded the e-bike brand Cowboy in 2017 together with school friends Adrien Roose and Tanguy Goretti, after previously co-founding meal delivery service Take Eat Easy in Brussels. Slaoui threw himself passionately into developing the bicycles. At the end of 2022, he was forced to resign from his position at Cowboy after a rare form of cancer continued to return.

The cancer was first diagnosed in 2019, but after series of treatments the disease continued to return. He eventually died at the age of 36.

“Karim was a gifted engineer, a tenacious entrepreneur and a visionary in every sense of the word. Without him there would be no Cowboy,” his friends and business partners Roose and Goretti said in a press release. “We have lost a good friend and partner, the world a brilliant mind. Karim not only played an important role in the development of Cowboy, but also made the world a better place to live in.”

The three founders: Andrien Roose (left), Tanguy Goretti (middle), Karim Slaoui (right)

Businessman baron Aldo Vastapane / 1926 – 2023

On October 31 we said goodbye to Aldo Vastapane. He died at the age of 97.

Vastapane was a businessman who was a jack of all trades. He started with the sale of spirits, but later switched to, among other things, the import of cars and some catering projects. Vastapane had the most success in the real estate sector. From the 1950s onwards he made a name for himself as one of the ‘concrete barons’ who worked for the renewal of the Brussels North District.

In 1958 he was also able to obtain a monopoly on the sale of tax-free products at Zaventem airport with his ‘Skyshops’. Vastapane also had several projects abroad, including tax-free shops and two game parks in South Africa and an agricultural company in Congo.

In 2006 he obtained the title of baron and in 2007 commander of the Order of Leopold, despite rumors that he once had a relationship with Queen Paola. It was even rumored that he was Prince Laurent’s father. He himself found those insinuations ridiculous.

Friturist Jef Verschoren / 1950 – 2023

On November 15 we said goodbye to Jef Verschoren. He was 73.

Jef Verschoren, or Jefke Frit as he was known in Tremelo, founded Frituur Bingo with his wife at the end of the 1970s. Later he also took over the Den Dok cafeteria at the swimming pool. In addition, he was always busy with one project or another in the community. “Like a real café owner, he could always talk about everything,” remembers Ken Verschoren, who said to him. “He had his thoughts about everything. But he always wanted to help everyone.”

He also always had a positive outlook on life, his cousin tells Het Nieuwsblad. “He always passed on that positivity to us as cousins. Even on his deathbed he remained positive and gave us a thumbs up. The saying ‘optimist to the core’ completely applies to him.”

Verschoren had been struggling with his health for years and was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago. He died at home, surrounded by family.

2023-12-20 19:21:28
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