BVIgnace Crombé has died at the age of 65 from the effects of an aggressive pancreatic cancer. The man was best known as the organizer and face of the Miss Belgian Beauty pageant. Several former winners are now reacting to his death. “The only faxes I got in my life were all from him.”
“He will especially stay with me as someone who was extremely driven”, says an excited Zsofi Horvath U.S. “I only heard about it a few minutes ago and I am still amazed at how quickly it has gone for him.” Zsofi was crowned Miss Belgian Beauty 2003 under the watchful eye of Ignace. “I was aware that he was suffering from a very aggressive form of cancer. Even though I no longer had contact with him myself, there was a period in which we worked very closely together. It is also thanks to him that a part of my life has formed in a certain way.”
“But he will stay with me above all as a real businessman who was extremely driven. Everything had to be in order down to the last detail. I also remember that the only faxes I got in my life were all from him (laughs). That was the period I was missing under him. He then communicated fully via fax and that rolled into that device all day long.” Finally, she added: “I am very sorry, especially as he leaves behind a 10-year-old daughter. Because I think he was a very warm, present dad to his youngest.”
Persona non grata
“I think it’s a bit whimsical,” she says Nele Somers, Miss Belgian Beauty from 2008. The news is very confronting for her, because her father is currently suffering from the same disease. “I know that Ignace was diagnosed after my father’s. The fact that he now dies earlier is particularly hard. It might as well have been my father.”
She finds the death of Ignace very double. “Of course he is the figurehead of the #MeToo in Flanders. Ignace became persona non grata and probably rightly so. Loss of reputation simply goes hand in hand with his behaviour.” Yet Somers believes that humanity is missing. She doesn’t put his behavior into perspective, but she can imagine that such hard moments could have a serious impact on his health. “I actually dare to draw the line that such moments can make you sick. Maybe that’s one of the reasons he didn’t get that old after all.”
Despite not having a good relationship with Ignace, she still had one last hope for him. “I was hoping that his ex-wife, Myriam, and his daughter, Stefanie, would be okay. I would be sorry if he had remained stubborn to the bitter end and had not reached out to them.”
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Ignace Crombé (65) loses battle against pancreatic cancer
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