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PALLISTER
Geoff
Pallister Geoff GEOFFREY FLEMMER3 PALLISTER (GEOFFREY FLEMMER2,
EDWARD1) was born 20 August 1942 in Boksburg Transvaal. He married VALERIE WYNNE
MATTHEWS 28 June 1968 in Linden Johannesburg. She was born 12 October 1943 in
Durban. Geoff is the great grandson of EMMA BETTY MARTHA6 FLEMMER (TOGER ABO AUGUST5)
born 12 June 1876 in Cradock Cape, and died 24 April 1908 in Cradock Cape. She
married EDWARD PALLISTER 26 January 1907 in Cradock South Africa. He was born
6 January 1879 in York England.
I was born in Boksburg on 20-08-1942,
son of Geoffrey Flemmer Pallister and Marie Le Caux Pallister (maiden name of
van Schalkwijk).My dad was up North in the Middle East at the time (He had volunteered)
serving in World War 2.
I was the result of probably his last passionate
encounter with my mom before he left to go up North on 16-12-1941, as I was born
some eight months later. My mother gave me my dad's Christian names as she wasn't
sure he would survive the war. He returned some two years later in 1944 and resumed
his job at E.R.P.M. gold mine.
I went to school in Boksburg until the
middle of 1953 when we relocated to Moshaneng Asbestos Mine, situated some 60
km north of Lobatsi in the then Bechuanaland Protectorate (now called Botswana).
There were no decent schools in the area, so my elder sister Marie and I
were sent to boarding school at Union High School in Graaff Reinet where my maternal
grandfather, Dr J van Schalkwijk lived and practised. My younger sister Estelle,
stayed at home with my parents and was taught by my mother until she was old enough
to join me at Union High some two years later. Marie had by this time matriculated
and went on to do her B.A. at Rhodes University. Estelle also went to Rhodes after
matriculating and obtained B.Sc. in Sociology. After matriculating in 1959 (I
had just turned 17), I volunteered for and was accepted by the Naval Gymnasium
at Saldanha Bay where I spent a glorious year (1960). In 1961 I enrolled at the
University of the Witwatersrand to study for a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering.
This I obtained in 1964 and went on to do a Master's degree (M.Sc.) in Engineering.
Thereafter I worked at the Mining Research Laboratories of the Chamber of
Mines. In 1973 I joined Metal Rolling and Tube and have been in welded steel tube
manufacturing ever since (30 years). I am now Technical Director at Barloworld
Robor, which is the largest tube and pipe manufacturer in South Africa. I think
that's enough of my studying/working history, so on to the more personal history:-
I married Valerie Wynne Matthews on 28 June 1968 in Johannesburg where we
lived. I had met Val at Wits where she obtained a B.A. in 1963 and her Teacher's
Diploma in 1964. We were fortunate in being blessed with two wonderful children.
Garth Geoffrey was born on 4 September 1970 and Cheryl Lynne was born on 15 December
1973.
On 19 December 1986 Garth and his cousin Wayne (Estelle's son,
and like Garth also 16 years old), were tragically killed in a motor accident.
They had got a lift in the back of a bakkie from Wilderness Common to the caravan
park near Fairie Knowe also at Wilderness in the Cape (near George). The inexperienced
driver simply lost control of the bakkie, which rolled down the low embankment
separating the road from the shores of Wilderness lagoon. The driver and passenger
were OK but both boys died at the scene.
On matriculating, Cheryl worked
at Edgars as a house model and then as a Buyer in the Ladiesware Department. She
left Edgars to join Woolworths in Cape Town in 1997, where she rose to become
a Senior Buyer in the Women's Ware Department. In May 1999 she became a Born-Again
Christian and in January 2001 she left Woolworths full-time employment (where
she still works on a contractual basis for them) and enrolled full-time at the
Cape Town Baptist Seminary where she is studying for her Theological Degree.
Other interests:- I come from a sporting family and love sport of any kind.
I played Rugby, Cricket and Tennis at the highest level while at School and at
the Naval Gym. At Wits I played only Rugby and in my fourth year played at fullback
for Wits in the then Pirates Grand Challenge, at a time when Diggers (with Avril
Malan as captain) were unstoppable. After that I played league tennis for Parkwood
Tennis Club. I have always loved the outdoors and in 1974 I joined the Mountain
Club of S.A, which resulted in many weekend visits to the Magaliesberg, Blouberg,
Waterberg and Natal Drakensberg. I was also fortunate to travel twice to Nepal
on climbing expeditions in the Himalayas (1978 and 1982), and also twice to Southern
Argentina on expeditions to the Andes(1980 and 1983). The second trip to Nepal
was very special since Val, Garth and Cheryl all came with and we spent some seven
weeks in Nepal. More recently (1998) I went to Mount Kenya. I am also an active
road cyclist (11 Cape Argus's) and like to keep fit though I have never liked
exercise for its own sake (nothing more boring than going to a gym!). I like most
music (from Beatles to Beethoven) and have a large collection of LP's and CD's.
We are fortunate to have a large beach house at the Wilderness, which my maternal
grandfather (Dr.J van Schalkwijk) built in 1933. Our whole extended family and
friends spend the Christmas holidays there.
What do I look like? Well
I'm 1.83 m tall, I weigh 86Kg, am fairish with blue eyes, I wear spectacles now
and am bald on top of my head.
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