Reginald Donald Stumke

Reginald Donald Stumke was born in Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania. His parents moved to Luderitz in the then South West Africa - now Namibia - for a short period and then to Johannesburg. He grew up in Maraisburg on the West Rand and attended Krugersdorp High School. He began his career in the woodwork shop at South African Railways workshop at Germiston and progressed to the Drawing Office. He met his future wife Lorraine Hazel Baillie who worked as a typist at South African Railways and they were married on 06.12.1952. He studied teaching part time and spent the rest of his life, first teaching and then as Deputy Principal of Germiston Technical College. He retired for a while and then took up teaching again, this time at the Mandoren Private School in Kempton Park until the age of 79 years. He wrote technical courses, moderated exam papers and was author of a book illustrating the history of the St. Andrews Presbyterian Church. Not only did he dedicate his life to the academic and technical fields, but was also a member and elder of the St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Germiston, where he taught communion classes, and conducted sermons from time to time. He loved the Ocean and he and his family went on frequent caravan holidays to the coast. After suffering a stroke in 2014, he underwent rehabilitation and then resided at the Edenhaven Retirement Village. There too, he had an impact on the residents and staff. He touched their lives and was a real gentleman. He thoroughly enjoyed the game Conundrums, proving to be a worthy opponent and overjoyed when their group won. Although he had lost most of his sight, it did not stop him from exercising his intelligence. He was so delighted when his daughters gave him a birthday party for his 90th birthday and three weeks later, on 2nd July 2020, he passed away.