JP van Niekerk

Presented at the Club’s Celebration of JP’s Life
Monday, 12 January 2026 by Duncan Martin

Annette, Gerrie and Catharina, fellow Probians and guests. 

I’m honoured to have been asked to present this tribute to JP’s life and impact as a Groote Schuur Probian. 

JP joined the Groote Schuur Probus Club some 18 years ago. He once told me that he’d first joined another Probus Club before he followed his good wife into the Groote Schuur fold! And indeed, Annette is recorded as having seconded JP’s membership application! JP’s proposer was Peter Belonje. Those have been members for some time will remember Peter and his wife, Judy.

JP the proposer extraordinaire

To give you a first sense of what JP meant to the Club, I’d like to mention the following remarkable statistic: of the 100-or-so current members of the Groote Schuur Probus Club, JP formally proposed or seconded the membership applications of no fewer than 25! I was one such – back in January 2013 – the very month in which I retired.

Talks JP presented

Within the Club, JP was well-known, well-loved, and very active. He was soon elected to the Committee and served as President during the 2012-13 year.

Over the years, JP presented ten after-lunch talks at Club meetings. The last of these was entitled Major Medical Mishaps, Quacks and Frauds, which he presented in February 2022. The full list of talks and rettelsweNs are listed below.

On 14 December 2020, at the Christmas lunch meeting, JP presented a glorious talk entitled Tales of two wartime tunes: Lily Marlene and Daar kom die Alibama. He talked about the origin of these songs and the famous singers – Anne Shelton, Vera Lynn, Marlene Dietrich - who had sung them. And he delighted us by performing both tunes on his miniature harmonica.

JP’s write-up of this talk appeared as a Newsletter on 6 January 2021 and is a wonderful read! You’ll find it easily among many items related to JP on the Club’s website.

A remarkable rettelsweN

During the COVID lockdown, when the Club could not meet, we wrote personal articles and published them as Newsletters for the amusement of fellow Club members. Actually, to distinguish these newsless issues from from real Newsletters, we called them rettelsweNs. JP wrote a wonderful article about his development as a politically aware young person. The article was entitled My little political odyssey and appeared as a rettelsweN on 11 November 2020. Characters in the story include Andries Treurnicht (both as a young dominee and as a powerful politician), Frances Ames, Steve Biko and Adriaan Vlok. You’ll also easily find this rettelsweN on the website.

The Club turns 20

On 9 April 2021, this Club turned 20. Some months before I decided that a Special 20th Birthday Newsletter should appear on the day, and I asked JP if he would write an article about the origins of the Club. He agreed and wrote a wonderful article that he entitled In the beginning – Groote Schuur Probus Club. With typical JP humour, it began thus: A healthy infant it was. Very appropriately, 20 years ago, the birth of the Groote Schuur Probus Club was managed by a well-known and respected Obstetrics & Gynecology specialist, Dr Cecil Craig.

Saturday morning hikes

Until about a year ago, JP organised and led the Club’s regular Saturday morning hiking group. I mean: Every Saturday morning.  He was an avid hiker and he knew the trails and byways of the Cape Peninsular intimately. I’ll always remember him for those wonderful hikes; for thoroughly introducing me – a backward Natalian and Gautenger – to the astounding scenery and fynbos of the Peninsula; and for welcoming me as a hiking friend. The group went on a Memorial Hike to Silvermine on Saturday 13 December, with the flowers out in profusion to celebrate his life.

Probus Adventures

I’m sure many of you think of JP, and will best remember him, for the annual Probus Adventures that he arranged and led. He did so every year for six years, starting in 2019.  Each Probus Adventure entailed a group of between 14 and 24 making a long trip on scenic roads, in a caravan of cars, and staying at interesting hotels and guest houses. Actually, JP resurrected an earlier Club practice of arranging and making such annual trips, or ‘tours’ as they were called then. Those who participated were called ‘Probitourians’. This earlier practice ended before my time as a Probian, but Peter Belonje, whom I mentioned earlier as having proposed JP for membership of our Club, arranged some that JP and Annette joined.

The first ‘Probus Adventure’ that JP arranged was a 5-day outing in August 2019 for 14 members to view the west coast flowers together. JP conceived the trip in its full detail. On his own bat, he handled all the negotiations with hotels and restaurants; he handled all the correspondence with participating members. Through his own bank account, he handled all the cash deposits from participants and payments to suppliers. A huge undertaking!

Subsequently, every year, until and including 2024, JP arranged a new and different Probus Adventure. In 2023, when JP announced the 2024 Adventure, he accepted an offer from the Club and its Treasurer to handle the financial side: i.e. to receive and hold deposits from intending Adventurers and to pay all suppliers.

On the road, JP always led the cavalcade of vehicles in his beloved 26 year-old Landy.

Every evening the Adventurers would gather and quaff drinks while listening to a short, before-dinner talk by one of their number. JP arranged these talks in advance, and nearly always gave one himself! His talks were all written up and published as rettelsweNs. You can read them on the website.

The Club is grateful to Tony Heher and Sally Lavender who, together, arranged the 2025 Adventure in the Overberg, which JP enjoyed as a mere Adventurer!

And the Club is grateful to Nina van der Velde, who is arranging the 2026 Probus Adventure!

Conclusion 

JP! We celebrate your life with great fondness! 

We will remember with pleasure your inspiring leadership of many Club activities.

We admired and loved you for your quiet wisdom; your practicality; and for the easy graciousness with which you engaged with your fellow Probians.