Diamonds are forever

The two met while they lived in Port Elizabeth.

“It’s a funny story. Helen was introduced to me through an ex-girlfriend,” said Claude.

“Helen was Afrikaans and when we met my Afrikaans was, well, limited. Somehow we made it through the two years we courted and were finally married in the NG Kerk on August 1,” he said.

Claude added that he was nervous on his wedding day because he had to recite his vows in Afrikaans.

“I was not nervous about marrying Helen. The priest said all I have to say was Ja, but I had no idea what I was saying Ja to,” Claude said.

The couple stayed in Port Elizabeth for two years before moving to Ndola in northern Rhodesia, now called Zambia.

“Those were very happy years for us,” said Helen.

Claude and Helen became involved with the Baptist Church before moving to Sailsbury, now known as Harare, Zimbabwe. Following independence between Zambia and Zimbabwe, the couple moved back to South Africa and lived in Queenstown.

In 1968, Claude and Helen moved to the ‘Reef, as it was known, and have lived in Edenvale for the past 45 years.

“We bought a house in Homestead Road and back then it was in the middle of a field,” said Claude.

Over the years, the couple have seen many changes in Edenvale and have always been part of the church.

In 1975 Claude and Helen accompanied a youth singing team to South America, where they toured countries such as Brazil and Argentina for six months.

“It was quite an experience,” said Helen.

In 1976, after both their daughters had married, the couple wondered what they would do next.

“We have never been keen on making money and always only wanted to live comfortably,” said Claude.

Claude quit his job and he and Helen travelled with various youth teams involved with the Baptist Church.

In 1983, the Edenvale Baptist Church invited Claude to take up a part-time pastoral position, which he did until 1988, when he became the church’s full-time associate pastor.

He held this position until his retirement in 1997.

Claude was invited to become an honorary chaplain to the Johannesburg Fire Department in 1990.

This started as an outreach ministry which, together with three other pastors from Boksburg, Germiston and Roodepoort, became the National Chaplain Ministry involved in all aspects of emergency services.

Today there are about 228 registered chaplains nationwide.

23 years later, Claude is now a life-long honorary member.

After his retirement from the chaplaincy, Claude and Helen set out to continue their work, and produced Daily Thoughts of Encouragement, a book aimed at emergency services personnel and the community.

While Claude prepares passages for the book, Helen types each word.

“We started with only 250 copies and are currently distributing 2 000 each quarter,” Helen said.

The couple have two daughters, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

“Through the years we have lost two grandchildren” Claude said.

The couple agree that all marriages go through “speed humps” from time to time.

“It is how a couple handle these speed humps that counts,” said Claude.