St George’s resident celebrates 100th birthday
Fellow St George's resident Joan Manning said Helmut was born in Bonn, Germany, on the River Rhine on January 20, 1919.
A bell-ringing ceremony and party were held at St George’s Village on January 20 to honour the 100th birthday of Helmut Esler.
Fellow St Georges resident Joan Manning said Helmut was born in Bonn, Germany, on the River Rhine on January 20, 1919.
“In February of 1937 at the young age of 18, he immigrated to South Africa.
“He worked on the South Roodepoort Gold Mine on the West Rand, where he later became the youngest mine captain at the mine,” said Manning.
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She said Esler then had a share in an engineering company in 1983, which he sold to devote time to his retirement.
“In 1996, Esler and his beloved wife, Helena, moved to St George’s Village, but regrettably she died only six months later,” said Manning.
She added Esler still lives independently in the same cottage with his cat.
“I am delighted to have reached this age without even making the slightest effort to get there,” said Esler.
