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Ellen HarmseCathy Potgieter 2021
Cathy Potgieter (born Elsie Cathrine van der Merwe) was born on Tuesday 25 Feb 1958 in what was then Salisbury, Rhodesia, better known today as Harare, Zimbabwe.
Mother Helen Johanna (born Heath) was of English descent and Father Cornelius Johannes van der Merwe was Afrikaans speaking, from the Vereeniging area. My mother died in a car accident when I was 3 years old in Rhodesia and my father and I then returned to South Africa. We stayed with my Grandma and Grandpa until my Dad remarried.
I went to school in the Vereeniging area, later also in Ladysmith, Natal and in 1975 matriculated at Drie Riviere High School, Vereening, Transvaal.
My working career was for + -35yrs at ArcelorMittal (formerly known as Iscor) initially as Financial Clerk, Secretary and later years as SHERQ System Administrator in Vereeniging with regard to Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Systems.All our children are independent and out the house and 3 of our 4 daughters are married. Their careers range from Shareholder (private business), Ophthalmologist (with own practice), Acting Accountant (NTT Toyota) to Teacher (Francis Vorweg School). Currently we have 4 granddaughters and 1 grandson with the 6th grandchild on the way in Jan 2021.
I like to be creative and do knitting, sewing, as well as gardening and travelling. The pension status is a very great experience and moving after many years has been a massive step in our lives, but life was very different in the Vaal Triangle than that we are now experiencing here in Jeffreys Bay. We have much more time for ourselves now so that we can do the outstanding family research regarding my Heath and Van der Merwe families and it is gratifying to have more time to work on it. Furthermore, I started painting and it's wonderful to see how much hidden talent I actually have.
In earlier years when the children were still small and playing tennis, I was the secretary of the Vaal Triangle Tennis Academy; later at the Vaal Triangle Walking Club and for the past few years secretary at the Vaal Triangle branch and NEC of Genealogical Society of South Africa.