WATCH: The sun sets on a true Lowveld legend

The 72-year-old Andrew, renowned for his successful light sport aircraft manufacturing business and colourful personality, passed away on April 13.

During the service tribute was paid to his adventurous pioneering spirit with two fly-bys which included 24 aircraft in total, giving their final salute to their friend and fellow aviator.

The service was also live-streamed on Facebook with the overwhelming feeling of those watching online being that “they had lost a treasure in the aviation industry”.

Andrew was still dealing with the tragic loss of his son, Donovan, who had died in a car accident in September 2020, when he was diagnosed with Covid-19. 

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“Coming to terms with his passing – after fighting and seemingly winning the battle – is going to be hard for us all. Personally, I think his heart took a bigger knock with Don’s accident than with Covid and when given the opportunity to be reunited with his son whom he missed so much, he took it. We know his beautiful soul is with the God he loved so completely and that he is with Donnie, our mother and all the other loved ones who left us too early,” Kuen said in his tribute.

Born in Barberton on November 14, 1948, Andrew grew up in a beautiful Cape Dutch-style house, on the then outskirts of Nelspruit, where i’langa Mall currently stands.
While attending Hoërskool Nelspruit, Andrew impressed the aviation industry by being the youngest person, at age 17, to get his private pilot’s licence at Nelspruit Airfield at that stage.
After school he became involved in the family stone-crushing business which produced most of the stone used on the Nelspruit town roads.

Denise Tamara (Bobby) Neil was the first love of his life and the mother of his four children (Lee, Kuen, Donovan and Terence). She sadly passed away in 1983 after succumbing to a head injury in a horse riding accident.

Love was on the horizon again for Andrew when he met Colleen Francis (Tombi) Thomson. She was his pillar of strength during a difficult time when he broke most of the major bones in his body in a terrible aircraft accident at Margate in 1985. Tombi and her son, Sean, whom Andrew loved as his own, were embraced into the family.

In 2001 Andrew got the opportunity to fly again when he purchased a B22 “Bantam” and he was able to pursue his third greatest love – aviation. With his son, Terry, they took the Bantam and evolved it into the incredible Bat Hawk that flies all around the world today.

“One of his happiest and proudest moments was flying to Bagdad in White River for breakfast a few years back with his sons in four Bat Hawks,” said Kuen.

Andrew’s fourth greatest love was much mentioned and celebrated at this memorial service – his family.

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“We were all so close to my dad and he loved us all so wholeheartedly. We did everything together. Worked hard but played harder. We are so privileged to have spent so much wonderful time with him. Our children, his grandchildren are luckier than most for having had the incredible experiences they had with him,” Kuen elaborated.

Andrew is survived by his wife, Tombi; his children Lee, Kuen, Sean and Terry, their spouses and his ten grandchildren.

But the most touching moment was Kuen’s final words, “I guess all we can do is keep his memories alive by constantly referring to his legacy and the amazing, unique man that he was. I wish you all peace in your hearts to get through this awful time and everlasting memories of my dad”.