A book about the life of
                      SYLVAIN DE WINNE
                            and the families
          DE WINNE - DE SMET AND COPPENS

 

A very brief summary of the story

Sylvain De Winne was born in Letterhoutem in 1902, the youngest of a family of four children. As a young fellow, he has to take care of his sick mother, whom he loses at a rather young age.

 

He married Germaine De Smet and had 3 sons with her. Germaine comes from a brooding family of 13 children; she too lost her mother at a young age. When Germaine falls ill, they place the three children for care with her father and stepmother on a farm in northern France. After all, it is then war (WWII) and Germaine sometimes visits her children in France. On these occasions, she also smuggles all kinds of products across the border.

 

Germaine remains ill and in 1943 she dies a sudden death. Sylvain is left in despair, but he meets a new woman! Just after the war, he remarries Jeanette Coppens, and the three sons return home.

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Jeanette also comes from a large family, she has a sister, four brothers, three half-sisters, and a stepsister.

 

Why this book?

• Fascinating history

• For our family and descendants who care about their history

• Everyone is covered

• A wealth of photos and anecdotes

• Because we should never forget them

• Getting to know your family tree

 

What did we do?

We collected information, photos, and anecdotes about all these people from their surviving descendants. A family tree was also compiled.

The story we are writing gives an insight into how people used to live. It shows how their lives turned out where coincidence sometimes played a role. It shows us where we came from, how we formed ourselves, and what is in our backpacks.

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It is also fascinating to see how we can find traits in ourselves that were also attributed to our ancestors.

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Timeline
We aim to publish our book by the end of 2024 - the beginning of 2025. The book will be written by Pauline Coppens and she will base herself entirely on the interviews we conducted with the De Winne - De Smet and Coppens families. Pauline also already wrote the story of her mother, who was a Ukrainian. For more info on that, you can click through here.

 

Once the book comes out, we would like to bring the family together. Family members are mainly around Sint-Lievens-Houtem, but also in the North of France and Montana (USA).

 

How can you contact us?

We can be reached via Facebook and this website. You can also always give us a call at +32 498 911 406 or via e-mail at ivandewinne@outlook.com. We are open to any additional information you can provide and are ready to answer all your questions about the Sylvain De Winne - De Smet and Coppens families.

 

Sponsorship

We are looking for sponsors within the family to keep the publication of the book affordable. Anyone who is an entrepreneur, self-employed or who would like to donate can contact Bernard Van Steenberge (Bakkerij Bernard, Brusselsesteenweg 487, 9050 Gentbrugge) for sponsorship via e-mail at bernard.vsb@hotmail.com or by phone at +32 9 232 34 79.