‘They are my guardian angels’
Father Andries, and son Martin Joubert, passed away within a week of one another, leaving behind a gaping hole in not only their family’s hearts, but the community at large as well.
Andries and his widow, Antonilea Joubert, had been married for 42 years at the time of his passing and had even been living in the same house in Lindhaven for the last 38.
It was here where they raised their two sons, Kobus and Martin.
Kobus would tragically die in a freak firefighting accident in 2000, which led to Andries and Antonilea beginning a garden service company, Vyf Ster Tuindienste.
Soon enough they found themselves maintaining not only their son’s grave among others at Panorama Cemetery, but gardens too, and this would become a flourishing business for them.
Then, about three years ago, Andries lost sight in his right eye, and was left with only 30% in the other.
Andries had also been suffering from diabetes, which only made matters worse.
This would lead to Andries requiring surgery on his heart, which was scheduled for 19 January this year.
Unfortunately his heart didn’t make it through the surgery and he died on the operating table.
Less than a week later, and the Joubert family would suffer again, this time losing Martin to a mass on his brain that had gone unnoticed until then.
On Wednesday, 24 January, a day before his father’s funeral, Martin suffered a seizure and was rushed to hospital where he underwent a CT scan which confirmed a mass on his brain.
Martin would die a day later, on 25 January, the day of his father’s funeral.
Martin was buried a week later alongside his father, and his brother Kobus at Panorama Cemtery.
Despite suffering so much, Antonilea remains positive, as she will always remember Andries as loving and caring.
“He loved everybody in our community, and if you take a look at our street’s gardens, every single one is neat and tidy,” Antonilea said.
“Andries could never go a day without walking past a yard without telling the owner to keep it tidy,” she chuckled.
George Meyer-Joubert, Martin’s widower, will also always remember Martin for the love they shared together.
“We were just like any married couple, we’d found our dream house, and nobody ever looked at us differently,” George said.
“A lot of our friends would actually walk up to us and say that they want a marriage like ours. We were living the perfect life, and this was completely out of the blue.”
Antonilea ended off with the belief that they will always be by her side.
“They are now my guardian angels, and they will be by my side forever.”
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