Family honours beloved husband, father
The walk was a fitting tribute to a man who loved nature and sharing his knowledge with others.
This past Saturday, November 8, saw a local family celebrate the life of their beloved husband, father, and grandfather with a guided walk through the Kloofendal Nature Reserve, which he loved so much that he wrote a book about it.
Jan van Wyk was a lecturer in physics at Wits University, and according to his daughter Janine, a natural teacher who loved nothing more than accumulating and sharing knowledge.
“I think the only thing he loved more than plants was playing Scrabble with our mother,” she says.
“He grew up on a plot in the vicinity of Krugersdorp and had a deep love of the veld from a young age. Unfortunately, his career as a physicist and lecturer did not afford him much time to spend in the outdoors.
“At age 70, now retired, he rediscovered his passion for nature and began fervently studying the wildflowers at the Kloofendal Nature Reserve, eventually writing and publishing a book on the topic.”
The family, including Jan’s wife, Jeanette, son Johan, daughters Janine and Marlene, granddaughter Madelize and her husband Ricky, was accompanied on their walk by Friends of Kloofendal (FroK) committee member and longtime friend of Jan’s, Karin Spottiswoode.
“Jan was actually my first-year physics lecturer at university,” says Karin. “I was struggling with physics because I did not have science in matric. Jan took me under his wing and helped me.
“Many years later, I met him on a wildflower walk in the nature reserve. I only realised he was my old lecturer later, though.
“He has, since that first walk, become a regular at the reserve, avidly researching the diverse plant species that appear here and becoming an expert in his own right.”
Karin spent the morning teaching Jan’s family more about the plants and flowers he so loved, pointing out many of the species that Jan had captured for his book.
Jan passed away from Parkinson’s Disease on June 2, and in accordance with his will, his ashes were strewn in the reserve.
The morning was concluded with a visit to one of Jan’s favourite places in the reserve, where his ashes are now part of the reserve he loved so much.
