30.07.2018

Dirk Theyskens 1960 - 2018

We have received the sad news that Dirk Theyskens, the former owner and chief executive of Belgian tower crane company Arcomet has passed away after losing a battle with cancer. He was 57.

A brief announcement has been published in his home town of Kasterlee, near Turnhout, Belgium, confirming other industry sources that have passed the information on.

We understand that he passed away on Friday - the 27th July – and that his funeral will be held at 10:00 on Saturday August 4th at St. Willibrordus Church in Kasterlee.
Please register to see all images

Dirk Theyskens (2006)

Theyskens headed Arcomet – his family’s company - for more than 30 years - originally with his brother Leo – building the tower crane rental and manufacturing company into a multi national group and one of the largest tower crane rental companies in the world. He became sole owner at one point with the help of a finance house, but stepped down as chief executive in 2014.

We will of course update this item as soon as we have more information – in the meantime our thoughts are with the family.

The family has now supplied the following overview of his life:

"Dirk Theyskens was born as the third child in a family that had five sons. He spent his youth in Beringen, where his parents founded the Arcomet construction crane company in 1956. He attended the grammar school in Beringen and went on to study economics in Antwerp.

In 1989, the five Theyskens brothers took over management of the company from their parents, but Dirk was the only one who stayed at Arcomet in the long run. Dirk led Arcomet to expansion, helping it grow into an international and eventually global company. In 1999, with Dirk at the helm, Arcomet received the prestigious Ambiorix Award from the VKW (an association of Belgian employers). The economic crisis in 2008 marked the start of difficult times for Arcomet; at the end of 2014, Dirk decided to leave the company.

Dirk and his wife, Ingrid Voeten, married in 1987 and had three children. As a devoted family man, Dirk enjoyed heading out on adventures with his children in the weekends. Dirk was very knowledgeable and especially interested in history. He was an avid and voracious reader with a gift for languages; he spoke fluent German, French and English. Dirk was also very athletic; he was a good volleyball player in his youth, and later enjoyed cycling, golf and skiing.

In June 2016, Dirk was diagnosed with cancer. Although his recovery initially seemed promising, the disease began to take its toll at the start of 2018. On 27 July 2018, Dirk passed away in the presence of his family in the St Elisabeth Hospital in Turnhout, Belgium."