1 June 2014: Born in Amay-sur-Meuse, near Huy, Belgium
1930: Scholarship to study German in Switzerland in exchange for looking after and teaching French to other students
1931-32: Member of the JECF (Girls YCS)
1932: High school diploma from the Hochschule du Canton de Lucerne
1932: Starts work as a secretary for a dentist in Huy
1932: Recruited to the local JOCF in Huy for the Brabant-Wallon federation by Marie Prégardien of the LOCF (League of Women Christian Workers)
1933: Goes to work in the Borinage region to assist in the development of the JOCF
1933-34: “Propagandiste permanente” or full time worker for the Brabant-Wallon Federation of the JOCF.
1934: Becomes a member of the JOCF national executive, responsible for several federations (: Luxembourg, Namur, Brabant-Wallon), the Service for the sick, and the magazine Joie et Travail (Joy and Work)
1934-40: Initial contacts with the JOCF in France, Switzerland, Portugal and Hungary.
1940: Becomes a refugee in France in Paris, Limoges and Lyon-Vaise,
1940: Joins the national leadership of the French JOCF in Paris then later in the free zone. Responsible for training sessions for young unemployed people as well as the Service of the Sick (Bresse, Côte d’Azur and Pyrénées. Contact with the JOC Suisse while in Lyon.
1942: Returns clandestinely to Belgium
1942: Joins the Hospitaller Sisters of the Sacred Heart
1943: Leaves the congregation
August 1945; Requested by Cardijn to help establish the new YCW International Secretariat
1945: Delegate of the IYCW to the founding General Conference of UNESCO in Paris where she introduced the IYCW’s request for recognition as an NGO.
1945: Appointed international secretary and a member of the International Bureau.
1947: Published La vie de Fernand Tonnet, Premier jociste, a biography of the Belgian JOC co-founder
1947: First intercontinental trip to Canada for the International Congress of the YCW
1950: Completes a diploma of social work with a dissertation entitled Une étape de l’Internationale jociste
1951: Long trip to South America
1952: Three month stay in Brazil to assist the new national executive
1957: Responsible for the organisation of the First International Council of the YCW in Rome.
1957: Completes her mandate for the International YCW at the first international council in Rome.
1957-67: Appointed to the COPECIAL, the Permanent Committee for International Lay Apostolate Congresses. Member of its permanent secretariat as an editor.
1957: Takes on role as Cardijn’s personal secretary.
1958: Pro Ecclesia Cross
1960: Founding member of Coopération Amérique Latine at Leuven, which was responsible for sending lay volunteers to Latin America.
1960-61: Becomes member of the Commission d’Etude et de Pastorale Ouvrière (CEPO) or Commission for Studying Worker Pastoral Care
1962-63: Responsible for compiling and publishing Cardijn’s book, Laïcs en premières lignes (Lay people into action), English version: Laymen into Action, 1964 plus five more various language editions
1967: Becomes Cardijn’s universal heir, responsible for dealing with his estate
1967: Responsible for the organisation of the Third International Congress on Lay Apostolate in Rome
1967: Appointed to the new Pontifical Council of the Laity as “representative of international problems in the worker world”.
1967-82: Archivist for Cardijn’s personal papers.
1967: Part-time worker for CEPO
1967: Responsible for preparation of Third World Congress on Lay Apostolate in Rome.
1968-78: Member of the Amitiés Belgo-Immigrés group in Bas-Schaerbeek. Action with Moroccan and Turkish immigrants, including supporting their hunger strike in defence of clandestine immigrants.
1969: Publishes Cardijn, a biography of Cardijn written with Jacques Meert and the collaboration of Roger Aubert.
1969-70: President of the parish council at Sainte-Marie, Schaerbeek
1970s: Works on the archives of the Belgian JOC
1974: Volunteer animator for the Ainées de Vie Féminine (Ex-members of the Vie Féminine movement) at the Gare du Nord.
1977: Leader of the local community group Gare du Nord (North Station).
1978-81: Member of the Conseil de la Famille (Council for the Family) of the Schaerbeek Commune. Action to improve public transport in the commune and also on problems of the aged.
1980: Animator of a reflection group for the General Council of the Lay Apostolate
1980s: Begins work organising and inventorying the archives of the IYCW
Late 1980s: Launches Huit jours, huit femmes (Eight days, eight women) organising holidays for elderly women
1990: Publishes La Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne, Wallonie Bruxelles, 1912-1957, a two-volume history of the movement written by a team of researchers.
5 May 2000: Dies just days after the 75th anniversary of the IYCW celebration and just a few weeks before her 86th birthday.
