When Joanna Theresia Rijs was born on 26 July 1826, her father, Guilielmus Rys, was 32 and her mother, Isabelle Theresia Vandermoere, was 35. She married Jacobus Huys on 9 February 1855, in Oedelem, West Flanders, Belgium. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 2 daughters. She died on 29 January 1875, at the age of 48.