Golden oldies remember – A life well lived and a life well loved

‘A rolling stone that gathered experience, not moss’ is exactly how one would describe Johnny van Gent. The man, who has worked for more than 68 years (and made 12 job changes during those years), has become somewhat of a legend. His name will often be heard spoken at Witbank Golf Club where he can be seen almost every weekend.

Behind every great man, there is also a great woman to support him in all his endeavours, and after almost 62 years that woman, Rita, still remains at his side.
“Don’t ask us what the secret is, because there is no secret!”

Rita laughed as Johnnie nodded in agreement. The recipe for such a long successful marriage, they might say, is to have patience and respect for one another, but then there’s something in the way they can still laugh together, teasingly chide one another and still look at each other with a glimmer of light in their eyes, which they shared the day they first met.

Johnnie had always been a busy, hardworking man. At the age of 15 he had started his apprenticeship as cabinetmaker under the guidance of his father, a cabinet and furniture designer. He completed his apprenticeship five years later in 1948 and was employed as a shop fitter and qualified to do shop fronts as well as display counters.

It was there in Johannesburg, where Johnnie lived and worked, that he met his lovely wife.
“We were in the same badminton team,” Rita remembers. Johnnie was always a great sportsman and it seemed fitting that he would meet his significant other on the sports field.

After a year, the couple got engaged.
“Unfortunately I was selected to go to the Olympics with the Water Polo Team that year,” Johnnie recalls.
Barely were they engaged, when Johnnie had to leave for an entire year (in 1952).

“When he came back a year later, I told him to forget about those blond Finnish girls, because he is marrying me!” Rita stated teasingly as Johnnie chortles next to her.

For Johnnie there was no one else but his brilliant Rita. They were married six months after his return from the Olympics.
Johnnie then moved into the salesman regime selling life insurance for Old Mutual. In 1954, while training for the water-polo team in Johannesburg at the Robinson Lake resort, a post became available for resort manager and Johnnie eagerly took on this next challenge.
While at the lake, Johnnie headed the training of the new water-polo team and took them to first league.

In 1956 Johnnie was appointed as superintendant at Casseldale where he continued to develop and train his water-polo team.
A chairman of the swimming club, who was a production manager of American Company, Link Belt Africa, later offered Johnnie the chance to study time motion and production planning, which Johnnie then took up and mastered within 18 months.

Johnnie and Rita’s future took a great turn when Johnnie was offered a job at Alan Black’s Engineering to head productions. The late Alan Black opened a motor engineering shop repairing diesel engines and not long after that opened a diesel pump and injector repair shop called Diesel Centre. Johnnie accepted his greatest challenge in 1966, when he and Rita moved to eMalahleni (then Witbank) to run the branch business and Johnnie’s own franchise: Witbank Diesel Services.

Johnnie, together with Rita, ran the business for 44 years before retiring.
Rita was always right next to Johnnie, supporting him throughout all of his career changes and the challenges he took on in the business world as well as on the sports field.

To note – Johnnie was one of the four members from his water-polo club to make the Olympic Team in 1952. In 1953 he captained the Transvaal Currie Cup team that won the trophy for the sixth time.

He had also always been passionate about golf and soccer. In 1969 he was golf club captain at Witbank Golf Club and served on the committee for more than 12 years. Johnnie assisted Richard Magrane, a professional player, on the PGA circuit and the Black Sparta Golf Club from Lynnville.

As for soccer, Johnnie coached Witbank Rovers who were formed in 1967. The team performed at its best for four years and also made it into the cup finals twice in the Transvaal Amateur League. After his son took interest in the sport, Johnnie started coaching junior football. He even donated a knock-out cup called the Lucas Hands Trophy to the team he continued to coach for 10 years.
“Those boys are all grown up now, but they still remain so humble,” Johnnie said.

Rita stood by all these years to help and support Johnnie. Together the couple raised three kids and are proud grandparents of six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

They are still much loved by the community and after a recent tragedy (when their son had suffered a stroke), Rita and Johnny received great support from their friends in the form of a ‘Johnnie van Gent Golf Day’, that was held to celebrate a great man and also help raise funds for their son, Russel’s treatment.

With so many successful years, experience earned and trophies received, Johnnie keeps the most treasured things, the ones he loves, closest to his heart.