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VAN
DEN BERG Shirley (Flemmer)
van
den Berg Shirley (Flemmer) SHIRLEY ATHALIE9 FLEMMER (NOLAN GEORGE8, OSWALD NOLAN7,
MARIUS TOGER6, HANS CHRISTIAN5, CHRISTIAN AUGUST4) was born 8 June 1965 in East
London South Africa. She married HERCULES JOHANNES VAN DEN BERG 26 March 1996
in East London South Africa. He was born 27 November 1966.
The Life & Times of Shirley Flemmer - written on 30 Jan 2003.
I,
Shirley Athalie van den Berg (nee Flemmer), am the eldest daughter of Nolan &
Jenny Flemmer from East London, South Africa. Born 08 June 1965 and named after
my parents dear friend & bridesmaid, Shirley Kirchoff. My second name is that
of my dad's deceased sister, Athalie. I am honoured that so many compare me to
her in looks. She was apparently a beautiful person and was studying to be a nurse
when she died in a car accident in Cape Town.
So I was the first curly
head born to my parents and naturally the most responsible, but also luckily acquired
an outgoing, friendly disposition. Photos show me always naked as a little girl,
playing with water in the garden at Saint Anthony's, our family house at 205 Old
Transkei Road, Nahoon Valley, East London. We were blessed to be raised in such
a lovely home in such a lovely town. Our home was always filled with family and
friends and many happy weekends were spent with all of us playing tennis and the
kids jolling on the river. My dad taught me to fish (he's a good fisherman) and
I used to steady the boat whilst he threw his net for swimming prawns. Those were
the good 'ol days, but no prawns there anymore - perhaps dad and I caught them
all. But despite my many hours spent on the water, I'm not really so keen on boating
etc which my sister Helen and brother David are. Both have their skippers licence.
I can still catch a big fish though.
I first attended a convent school,
but when that closed, went to a girls' only school, Clarendon. I was an average
student in class and on the sports field, but I loved my dancing especially the
annual stage shows that our dance school put on. I wasn't a very beautiful child,
but I suppose cute and I had a good bod in my teen years (thanks to mom), so I
did modelling as a hobby and found myself in a number of fashion shows and later
came second in a best dressed women competition. Again thanks to mom for the glamorous
clothes she used to dress me in from her well known shop "Sportique". It was at
one of these shows that my personality shone through and I was grateful to a family
friend for suggesting that I go into Public Relations as a career.
I
studied a 3 year Public Relations Diploma at the Cape Technikon 1983 - 1985. My
final year was a practical one and I worked for Metropolitan Life in their PR
dept. But the travel bug caught me and I saved all I could to travel overseas
for a year. I went to most of Europe in this time, nearly got jailed in Turkey
for illegal working and got so fat on a Kibbutz in Israel, but had a ball. So
much so that on returning and entering the Personnel Recruitment field, I again
saved up to go over to Europe for the second time. This time I met a French man
and for a while my family thought I wasn't gonna return. However, his French charms
soon dwindled and so did the glamorous thought of living overseas.
In
search of life in the fast lane, I sought work in the tourism industry and landed
a marketing and sales job for an outdoor adventure company in Hazyview, close
to the Kruger National Park. It was here that I met my Afrikaner husband Hercules
Johannes van den Berg, eldest son to Joy & Hercules van den Berg. At first he
was such a karki chap to me, but his warmth and love won me over. I played hard
to get as still had the need for travel and adventure and didn't want to be tied
down. However, I knew I must accept on the 3rd proposal as otherwise I would have
lost out. We had a wonderful wedding in East London on 23 March 1996 and my Afrikaans
started improving. Athalie Jane was born on 9 December 1997 in Nelspruit (we were
living in White River, Mpumalanga at the time) and Aeron Shelby born 12 June 2001
in Klerksdorp, North West.
And so the curly heads live on. My attempt
to take a straight haired husband was in vain as the Flemmer gene is a strong
one. One day long ago I was in a pub with my two sisters and one over-the-wall
chap came to realise that we all had similar hair and said, " You've all had the
same perm". My reply was "No, we all come from the same sperm". Ha ha.
Its January 2003 and I'm nearing 40. I still have a yen for travel, but unfortunately
the Rand is not what it used to be, making it difficult to travel to far distant
lands. My career in PR was the right choice for me and I love to participate in
events. One of my best jobs was in event management and I hope to pursue that
career again shortly.
Athalie and Aeron are beautiful blond curly heads
and the centre of our lives. Athalie is the first grandchild to my parents. Aeron
the third. Take them out in East London, and people stop and say - those must
be Flemmers. And I'm so proud.
