Memorial Gathering for Hans Middelmann ; Speeches and tributes 14 March 2002

On this page: Address by Paul Middelmann Text/transcripts awaited for addresses by   Gerald Shaw   Dr Stuart Saunders   Helen Zille Address by Carl Middelmann Email from Raoul Middelmann Sonnet by John Dawson On separate pages: Obituary - Sunday Times

Address by Paul Middelmann On behalf of Jessie and our Family, and also Dad's elder brother Walter and sister Gertie, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to you all to this Memorial gathering of family and friends to pay tribute to and celebrate Hans Middelmann's life - Husband, father, brother, uncle, friend. We are also here to share with Ma, Walter and Gertie and all of you, the sorrow of his life coming to an end and the loss that that means to us. I should also mention that we are thankful to have Dad's older brother Walter here today. He has recently fought off a severe bout of pneumonia and is still recovering, but he has managed to be here today with us. We are gathered here firstly to pay our respects to Hans to give thanks for his long and wonderful life, to remember and celebrate what he meant to each of us. But above all, I think, we are here to give thanks for his life. The spread of any lifespan covering almost 90 years is immense. Dad's life covered a vast canvas of events, people, family growth, activities and interests, and an incredible array of personal relationships and contacts. But central to all of this has been his family and extended family, many of whom are here today. Dad was a lucky man. His parents prepared him well for life. He was incredibly lucky to meet Jessie and form our family. We, his children are lucky to be part of all of this and to have had him as a father. We are honoured to have a number of Dad's distinguished friends from his business and public life here today. Gerald Shaw, Dr Stuart Saunders and Helen Zille have kindly agreed to say a few words about their association with Hans. Before handing over to Gerald, I would like to cover few more things: We are thinking of our sister Julia who is unable to be with us today and has sent this message by satellite phone calls from South Georgia. She sends her love and special best wishes to you all, particularly Ma and to Walter and Gertie, and says she will be thinking of Dad and all of us today and that she is with us all in spirit. Julia is currently on the high seas between South Georgia and the Falkland Islands and will not be able to reach Cape Town for some time. Julia had one other special contribution to commemorate Dad's passing. On Saturday she spoke to us on the phone and reported that with the port captain's permission, she had lowered ALL the flags at King Edward Point and Grytviken to half-mast. We think Dad would have been delighted to know that his remembrance extended as far as the Antarctic islands. As I said, I am not going to speak in any detail about Dad, but I would like to highlight a few things which in addition to the many intellectual, moral and similar qualities which part of his life, were significant to me personally which I think I gained from Dad and which have contributed to my happiness and fulfillment of my life. 1. Making things with your hands. He always encouraged us to make things. He and Ma both practiced this. We always had a workshop with workbench and tools. Dad and Ma built swings for us, Dad built cupboards and shelves and many other things. I doubt that Dad really anticipated that the St Kevin back yard would be filled at times with dismantled cars, soap box car races, boats, canoes, chicken coops, a surfboard factory, and many more. But I think in spite of the occasional aggravation, he derived immense pleasure from seeing us pursue these interests. 2. Writing. Dad's interest in and use of the power of the written word was a cornerstone of his life. He encouraged us to communicate and wrote to all of us, as did Ma on every trip wherever we or they were. He kept written notes on almost everything. He sent us copies of articles. He learned to use a computer in his eighties and with email the writings and newsletters flowed even faster. We have all gained from this. 3. Our family home - St Kevin. Dad was absolutely dedicated to providing us with a stable and wonderful family base. We all grew up there and had a blessed childhood in an environment which has few equals. We can only say thank you for making that possible and sustaining it over more than 20 years until we all left the nest. I would like to say a few more special thank-yous. A number of family members and others - some of whom I may not be aware of - have commuted and traveled from afar to help us prepare for Dad's farewell and to be here today. Carl came immediately from New York. Mish was here before Dad passed away on Friday and has now been joined by his family. Lindsay my wife has as always just sorted everything out to make this gathering possible. Grandson and my son Marc arrived this morning from London. Many of our relatives have traveled from the Karoo and other areas to be here. Mom, myself, Julia, Carl, Mish, Walter and Gertie, would like to thank you all for coming to our home today for this sad but special occasion in our lives. I would also like extend our families' special thanks to Patrick Chapman who has assisted Dad and Mom for more than a year on a regular basis with many tasks and Dad's personal administration and especially with their move last year from Marina Da Gama to their apartment in Norfolk place. I know that Dad really appreciated your advice friendship and help at a time when he found it increasingly difficult to do things himself. Thank you. I am not going to introduce each speaker as they are well-known to you, and each will, I am sure, also touch on their relationship with Hans themselves. [return to list of memorial tributes] Address by Carl Middelmann Welcome. Welcome everybody, and THANK YOU for coming, to be with us all today. We are here TOGETHER - united by a common purpose, and by someone so special to each and every one of us. Hans, Dad, my Father. We are here to say Farewell - to take our leave, and to say Goodbye to the physical being who dwelled inside that fine body that was Hans Middelmann - Mom's Husband, for 54 years, Our Father, Walter and Gertie's Brother, Uncle to many and a dear friend to all. Our purpose is more than just to say goodbye and farewell - it is to recognise and get in touch with and think about the spirit and the soul that is our Pa, that is our Hans. A spirit that lives on and is within us all, and which we all share. Our purpose is also to give thanks for our blessings - that we were blessed for all those wonderful years by the earthly presence of this great human, who was himself so richly blessed. We are here today to acknowledge the continuity of life and the continuity of family. To give thanks not only for the fabulous life of Hans, of which we partook so generously, but also for the strong and blessed lives of his parents, and their parents, who through their spirits and continuity and blessings gave Hans the ingredients he was born with, and which he multiplied so well and put to such good use. Dad was not a spiritual person in the traditional religious sense, yet he was driven by an inner spirit and a brilliance of soul that touched and inspired us all deeply. He was blessed. As we are also each blessed with our own unique gifts and talents, which are God-given. Blessed with our love for each other, blessed by our children. Pa was richly blessed. To me, one's spirit is closely connected to one's blessings - both come from a realm we cannot fathom, yet we are the richer for acknowledging our blessings and being in touch with the spiritual.    Dad was blessed.    He was dedicated    He was brilliant    He was generous And he was blessed with a mind and an inner strength - a soul - which we all know was truly unique: rare like a diamond, and polished like gold, the power of intellect, wrapped in the strength of conviction. Hans took his blessings, and on strength of his soul he set out to do great things - and he succeeded. succeeded in such a way as to be an inspiration to us all. He gained our respect and our love, and many times our awe. Maybe even our fear…. This was a BIG person! Yet all that he was only made him more worthy - worthy of our cherishing his spirit forever. Even unknowingly we will all pass it on in that invisible way, to our friends and our children and to our childrens' children, and beyond. Hans' spirit is here with us now. His physical body has done it's job. His spirit lives and it has a warm home in our hearts. For all time this spirit connects - to things outside himself. His spirit connects - beyond where the earthly mind can go. It is from his soul. We're here to remember Hans. To feel his warmth and his life, still so close and still so fresh from leaving this earthly world. And we're here to touch that spiritual unknown - even if ever so lightly and so briefly. Spirit is a gentle thing - fleeting, glimpsing, almost not there, yet certainly there. We're not here to fear, and hide, and cry out in our loss and mourn in despair. No, we are here to help our own souls take one step closer to understanding that which we cannot understand. And to orient ourselves for the new future - without Hans - but with all the goodness and richness of his spirit, that remains with us. As we say goodbye to Hans, let us pray quietly in our own way and feel his spirit. It is, after all "One with God". Let's send our love to that spirit. Connect with that spirit. Incorporate that spirit into our own beings, and let's pray for him from our hearts. Godspeed my darling Dad, our trusted friend, you great human being. Godspeed, as you go to the next world. You have blessed so many with the spirit that is you. Thank you for showing us the way. When our time comes, it will make our own passage that much easier if we know we're going to the same place you are. Farewell, dear Hans, we love you and will remember you always. Carl Middelmann [return to list of memorial tributes] Email from Raoul & Helen, 20 March 2002 Dear Julia, Dear Paul and Lindsay, Dear Carl, Dear Mish and Colleen, and families, I just received your e-mail. As you, Paul and Lindsay, know from the two e-mails I sent you since 8 March the contents of your message was not a surprise. I have forwarded your message to Astrid, Udo and Debbie, our own four children and to Udo and Debbie's children with e-mail (Naomi, Samantha and Hannah). I simply added the sentence that Helen and I "savor the hours we shared with Onkel Hans, first cousin of Werner, our father, grandfather and great-grandfather in Germany, Australia and South Africa." To you all I say that you have had a truly great father but, naturally, one also not without weaknesses. He certainly was one who will live on in your own lives and those of your children, in what you do, or not do, what you like or what you dislike. He has given you a vision beyond only yourself. What you accept is your decision. What better way for a father to go, and we all have to go sooner or later. Helen and I visited South Africa in January/February 2000 largely out of respected for Hans and Jessie and for Walter. We had met them quite regularly over the decades since the mid-1950s. Through them we wished to develop friendship to you, their children, fully recognising that this would be so much harder once they had gone. You are in our hearts and minds. The coming weeks will be especially hard for Jessie and Walter. Be patient with them, if I may say so. As you know, "the show must go on." In a direct sense that applies to your and your children's generation rather more than that of your parents. Love to you all Raoul [return to list of memorial tributes] Memorial sonnet composed by John Dawson Dr. Hans Middelmann l9l2 - 2002 Departed he his home and troubled native land To pass as thru' Ulyssian arch to fields more fair Of prospect and of chance on Afric's golden strand. There to construct a life with visionary care, To gain great goals, the greatest - family love, But true friends, honours too, and travels far and wide, Good Earth the tract and range. His muse the peaceful dove Humanities to guide. Also to show no side In matching those companions of intellect and power. And yet of common touch; a glimpse of heritage. Conservator of time; the unrelenting hour Its need; effectiveness, in filling out life's page. Thus, an holistic man; ennobling to the last, E'en on remote South Georgia, a tribute on a mast. [return to list of memorial tributes]

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