DESCRIBED as a man of few words, Colonel Jacobus Louw will be remembered for his actions of love and kindness as not only a friend, colleague, and father but as someone who has served the nation as a dedicated soldier.
Col Louw’s life was celebrated in a memorial service at the Merebank ASB KZN Military Base on Wednesday, 30 January, after he died of cancer on Friday, 25 January. Born on 7 March 1957 in Kimberly, Louw started his military career in 1980 at the SA Infantry Battalion in Potchefstroom. After completing the junior leaders course, he volunteered for early deployment and was transferred to 37 BN in the Kaokoland, Namibia.
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Col Louw completed all his military courses and was involved in training, operations and projects which saw him rise through the ranks. He was involved in the Azanian Peoples Liberation Army intake, youth camps, military skills development system intakes, internal and external mobilisations, and SADC operations and exercises. For 19 years, he was second in command of the Mobilisation Centre near Bloemfontein and in 2003, 2004 and 2013 he was acting officer commanding, when the unit was awarded best logistical unit.
Col Louw flourished throughout his military career, and was promoted to the rank of colonel in 2016. A year later, he was diagnosed with cancer. Deciding that there was still much he wanted to do, he transferred to Durban where he took over as Officer Commanding of Army Support Base in Merebank. He chose to live on the Bluff, in order to be closer to the ocean. Louw’s daughter Mariska Marais said her father always held a deep affinity for the ocean.
“He loved the sea and loved fishing,” she said. His love of fishing was matched by his skill, which was rewarded with his attainment of provincial colours from Griqualand West and Free State for freshwater angling. “It was where he was the happiest, so we decided that is where his ashes will be spread,” she said.
Mariska will remember her father as loving and not strict but firm in a loving way. “He was gentle and kind and a man of few words but when he did speak, he always said something wise and touching. I remember every conversation we had but his last words to me was that he loved me,” she said quietly.
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