Father pays homage to late son through book
The late Charles Swart Jr's father, Charles Swart Sr, shares how surprised he was at how many lives his quiet and reserved son had touched.
CHARLES Swart Sr could only see how many lives his late son had positively touched – during the short 25 years he’d lived – after he had died.
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This made him recall Ann Morrow Lindbergh’s quote: “Only when a tree has fallen can you take the measure of it. It is the same with man.” Swart has recently published the book, A Young Tree Has Fallen, about his son Charles Swart Jr who died in August 1998 after he was mauled by a leopard while working at the Kruger National Park as a student ranger.
“After military service, he enrolled at Mangouthu Technikon to study nature conservation, and I never knew him to be a popular people’s person. He was always reserved and quiet,” said Swart.
The family was surprised by the hundreds of people who attended the funeral.
“We realised our church, the Baptist Church, was going to be too small for the service. We quickly made arrangements to make use of the much larger NG Kerk. There were people he went to school with, friends, Scouts from his days as a Scout, and ordinary community members. It was only after he had fallen that we got to witness how big he was,” he said.
He dedicated the book to all those whose lives were touched by his son, his family and friends and those of the family who did not get to know Charles fully. At the height of his grief, Swart said his youngest son, Dirk, told him that when he has children of his own, he would want them to know all about the uncle they never got to meet.
“This prompted me to consider putting together an album of photographs of events, extracts from his diaries, his letters and other significant events. That’s how the idea started, but I soon realised it would take no less than a book to contain just the most important outline of Charles’ short life,” said Swart.
After delays because of work, Swart was able to finally finish the book after his recent retirement.
“I ask the reader not to expect literature. This is simply a father’s attempt to put together these memories for private consumption,” he said.
The book is available from Swart at R140 per copy. He can be contacted on 082 791 6996.
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