Dear Campus Community,
We sadly share the message of the sudden passing of one of our retired colleagues, Henry Peter Abdoll, who passed away on Friday, 9 April 2021 at the age of 78 after a short illness.
Henry from Acacia Park in Kimberley was the Director of the Office of Development and Public Affairs (ODPA) and was born in Carnarvon, in the Northern Cape.
After completing his matric at Schoonspruit High School, Malmesbury, he went on to study Business Economics at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in Bellville. Subsequent to graduating from UWC, he landed his first job as a teacher at Salt River High School. After nine months he took up a position at Spes Bona Bank, which kicked off his career in business.
Anne Petersen, his secretary while at UWC said, “Mr Abdoll, or Mr A as we called him, was a real gentleman. He loved his job and was very friendly and soft spoken. He was known to be eloquent in his speaking and writing in both English and Afrikaans. My fond memory was that he interviewed me for my job and accepted me immediately as his secretary, where I went on to work for 24 years.”
For many years, he worked at UWC where his colleagues knew him as a man well suited for his job in public affairs. He worked at UWC until 1992, thereafter pursuing a career at Armscor in Pretoria.
When he retired, Henry, with his beloved Cathy (his wife since his 22nd birthday) moved back to the Northern Cape where they were both from. They lived in Sutherland where they became part of the community, and Henry even became the Mayor of Sutherland.
He is survived by his sisters, Adonia (“Donie”), and Clarissa (“Nini”), who both reside in the Western Cape. Henry remained very close to them, even when there was a geographical distance in the final years.
He also leaves behind his wife, Cathy, his son and his wife, Riaan & Emma, his daughter and her husband, Heidi & Ramon, as well as his grandchildren Noah & Lailah and Max & Rafe.
For a full obituary and funeral arrangements: https://everloved.com/life-of/henry-abdoll/
