Former Benoni principal dies
Former Benoni councillor and Benoni West School headmaster Gerhardus Hermanus Pheiffer died on October 21, after a short illness.
Pheiffer was born on October 9, 1922, in Kimberly.
He was the youngest of nine children.
His family moved to Brakpan in 1931, where he completed his schooling.
Pheiffer studied in Potchefstroom, at the Heidelberg Teachers Training College and then Unisa.
He obtained his teacher’s diploma and then a BA, with honours in psychology.
He married Patricia O’Brien in December 1945.
The former mayor joined Benoni West School in 1958, as headmaster, settling in Rynfield at this time.
He was principal of the school for 27 years.
The school’s current headmistress, Tessa Penman, shared the school’s condolences.
“He will be remembered as one of the cornerstones of Benoni West School,” she said.
Pheiffer’s son, Conrad, said his father successfully competed in the local Benoni elections for Ward Six in 1972, becoming a councillor for a four-year term. He was elected mayor in the same year.
Pheiffer retired in 1985, after serving the teaching profession for 41 years as teacher and headmaster.
He moved to Trafalgar, on KwaZulu-Natal’s south coast and then to Vermont, Hermanus, where he spent his last years.
During this time Pat and their second oldest son, Steve, died.
Pheiffer is survived by his second wife, Rita, sons Ben, Deon and Conrad Pheiffer, daughters-in-laws Etna, Linda, Lisa and Michelle Pheiffer, and grandchildren Nadia, Torben, Melissa, Minke, Julian, Bronwyn and Daniel Pheiffer.
The funeral was held on October 28, in the Hermanus NG Kerk.
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