“It has been really tough to write something about my dad…”
“What do you write about a man you never had the opportunity to get to know, where the only memories you have are the ones that belong to others? I wish I had had the chance to get to know him, the man others have described to me. I have been told he was an extremely kind, honest and loving person. How different would my life have been if he hadn’t died? I miss him – there are so many things I would love to share with him, to be able to talk to him, to get his advice, to hear his voice. I wish I could tell you about my dad, but like you, I rely on others to tell me about him. Daddy, you are sorely missed and never forgotten.”
These are the words of Yvonne Ethny MacLean, about her father, John Francis MacLean.
John, of the Regiment Northern Natal, was born in Durban on September 13, 1955, to Colin Francis Maclean and Philippina Susanna Gey van Pittius.
John started his schooling at Nardini Convent School in Vryheid, and then went to Nuwe Republiek School, and matriculated from Vryheid High School at the end of 1976.
He was the stepson of Edwin ‘Eddie’ Lowe of Vryheid, who is still very much alive today, and in April 2019, turned 96 years old.
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Eddie was married to John’s mother, Philippina, when John was about eight years old. She passed away on February 22, 2012 in Vryheid.
John had two stepsisters, Desray Skinner nèe Lowe, and Doreen Symes nèe Lowe, and a sister named Claudia Roberts, nèe Maclean. John also had two stepbrothers, Anthony and David Lowe.
He was husband to ‘the love of his life’, Una Maclean nèe van Deventer, who he married in the St Peters Parish [Anglican Church] in Vryheid on February 4, 1978.
Together, John and Una had a daughter named Yvonne, who currently lives in Middelburg in Mpumalanga.
John and Una loved the ocean, and spent many weekends somewhere on the Natal North Coast, where John could practise another love of his – fishing.
After the completion of his compulsory military service, John became a member of the South African Defence Force’s Commando system.
He was employed as a teller at the Standard Bank in Vryheid, where his wife Una was once also a staff member, and at the time of his death, John was employed on a mine near Vryheid.
John died on November 14, 1980, in a tragic shooting incident at Nhlazatshe near Gluckstadt, while he was guarding a key point. He was laid to rest in the Vryheid Cemetery.
After John’s death in 1980, Una later remarried with Deon Meintjies, and died in Johannesburg on February 22, 2006, as a result of breast cancer. Her ashes were scattered at sea.
John’s stepsister, Desray wrote: “My brother John was a very caring person. He and I were in the same class at school. John was the best man at my wedding in August 1976, and John’s best friends when he was growing up, were Udo Pfafferot and Bernard Bruckner, who were all also from Vryheid, and they were all very close.”
John’s sister, Claudia wrote: “The soldier who shot and killed my brother was found guilty of Culpable Homicide, and he was sentenced, and served only two years’ imprisonment before he was released on parole. Our father [Colin] also saw active service during [World War II] as a rifleman in North Africa as well as in Gibraltar. John was an active church member, and he served as an altar boy at the St Peters Parish in Vryheid. John was also a member of a church youth band. He loved fishing and camping very much. John was employed as a Plant Operator at Natal Anthracite Colliery, and it was during this time that the tragic event of his untimely death had happened.”
Eddie is also a South African Air Force Veteran of WWII and served in North Africa and Italy, and during that time was part of a team that maintained and flew Douglas bombers and Martin Marauders.
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The name of John Francis MacLean is inscribed on the War Memorial at the St Peters Anglican Church in Vryheid.
Lest we forget.
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