His father was a head teacher in Hoeselt, which earned him the nickname Lemmen van de Meester.

[3] He attended primary school in Hoeselt and also received his first musical education from the sexton of Werm [fr; nl].

In 1922, together with Emiel Hullebroeck, he founded the music monthly Muziekwarande, the last issue of which was published in December 1931.

From 1923 to 1926 he also taught at the Trade and Language Institute, founded by Jan Baptist Wannyn, on the Savaanstraat in Ghent.

After his death on 13 July 1932, his remains were transferred to his native village in April 1933, where a funerary monument was erected on the municipal cemetery.