The grand auntie dies at 91
A people's person, a child of God, a woman with class and integrity.
These are some of the words used to describe Susanna Sophia “Sannie” Swanepoel.
The 91-year-old Rynpark Two resident died on September 18, in the Life the Glynnwood Hopsital.
Her godchild, Santa Ackerman, praised Sannie’s life.
“She was a person who never gave up,” she said.
“When she undertook something, she invested everything into it.”
Santa said Sannie would make beautiful clothes when she knitted and crotched and had a talent for making beautiful flower arrangements.
She added that Sannie was very artistic and turned anything she touched into a gorgeous specimen.
Sannie’s daughter, Gesina van der Westhuizen, said her mother was an important figure in her life.
“My mother was a very good example to me,” she explained.
“She did this through praising God, which taught me a lot.
“She was extremely neat and dressed well, she was very grand.
“If you talk to someone about her they will ask: “The grand auntie?”
She added that her mother was not lazy and still baked cookies for her and the church at her old age.
Sannie was born on April 16, 1923, in Vryburg.
She was the second eldest of five children and completed her Grade Nine education in Vryburg.
Then, at age 20, she moved to Johannesburg and worked in a clothing factory in Germiston.
She married Ryno Verster at the age of 18, in 1941.
They were married for 30 years, when he died.
Years after Ryno’s death, she married At Swanepoel, in 1983.
They were married for 10 years when At died.
In 1957, she moved to Kempton Park, where she lived for 30 years and was a housewife.
Sannie remained very active in her later years, was a member of the Vroue Landbou-Unie and belonged to a flower club in Kempton Park and an art club in Rynpark.
Three months before her death, she joined a quilt club at Uncle Tim’s Cabin.
She would also man the pancake and vetkoek tables at her church, the AP Kerk in Stokroos Street, of which she was a member for 20 years.
Gesina described her mother’s hobbies and talent for them as “phenomenal and a great achievement”.
Sannie had three children, Judy and Ryno Verster and Gesina.
Sannie leaves behind seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren,
Her funeral was held at the AP Kerk on September 25.
