The Grassy Park community is in mourning following the sudden death of former Fairview Primary School principal Cedric Esterhuizen and wife Maureen within 24 hours of each other.
The loving couple, who were both 72 years old, died from Covid-19 complications.
Cedric was well-known in Grassy Park for his love and commitment to education and he was one of the first teachers at Fairview in 1975.
He became the principal in 1993.
His wife was a nurse at the Grassy Park Day Hospital until her retirement.
Their son Cedric Esterhuizen Junior says his parents were admitted at Gatesville Melomed on 31 December, but his mom was sicker.
Sadly, his dad passed away first on 9 January, followed by his mother the next day.
“It is a consolation for us that they both went as we do not know how they would have coped without each other,” says Cedric Jr.
He says his parents were both diabetic while his mom also had kidney problems and was on dialysis.
The Esterhuizens celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on 19 December and Cedric says they have been inundated with messages of support following his parents’ deaths.
“That speaks to the man my father was. He was an influential person and a natural leader,” he says.
“My mother kept the family together.
“We suffered a double blow and I am getting counselling to deal with the loss.”
Cedric retired as principal in 2008, but came back as a School Governing Body-appointed math teacher in 2010, when the school faced a shortage of teachers.
Current principal Keith Meyer worked with Cedric and described him as “larger than life” and a lekker joker at times.
“He led the school to win a School of the Year award. He was a natural leader, but also mischievous.
“He would pull pranks on teachers,” Meyer reminisced.
“He was my mathematics teacher, he was a person that was stern but also naughty. He would hide teachers’ bags and insist on helping them find the bags.
“His wife was a nurse at the day hospital and when a learner would get sick, Mr Esterhuizen would go there and come back quickly.
“I thought he knew the manager, but he would call his wife to wait for him at the door and not stand in queue with the sick child.”
Meyer says as an administrator, Cedric was in a class of his own.
“You would present your work to him and within a few seconds, he would pick up mistakes and show you.
“He was also inspirational. I do not know how he got it right to get the best out of the staff.”
The couple will be laid to rest on Sunday and the service will be live-streamed on the Fairview Primary Facebook page from 10am.