GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - Well-known Graaff-Reinetter Vicky Molteno passed away recently, on October 27 to be exact.
Vicky is missed daily by his children, his many grandchildren, extended family and friends.
Theuns Eksteen, a long standing friend of Vicky, wrote this about him in remembrance:
“There is an unwritten law in Graaff- Reinet that goes as follows: You must live in a respectable residential address for 25 years before you can call yourself a Graaff-Reinetter.
Vic was accepted and respected by everybody as a Graaff-Reinetter within the first month of living in this small town. That was Vicky Molteno.
He commanded respect in his own soft spoken, humble and modest way.
Another contributing factor why he was accepted as a Graaff-Reinetter, was because he wanted to be one.
This is where I should stop, because what I said describes Vicky - but I cannot.
For the Graaff-Reinet people’s sake, the following about his early life and family background:
Vicky was a direct descended of Sir John Charles Molteno who lived from 1814 to 1886.
Sir John Charles Molteno emigrated from London at the age of 17 to live in the Cape.
He joined Parliament in 1854 representing Beaufort West and was a staunch supporter of "responsible "government" in the Cape - one where the local administration had control instead of the British.
In 1872 he was elected the first Prime Minister of the Cape Colony.
The town of Molteno in the Stormberg mountains and the Molteno Pass between Beaufort West and Loxton (which some consider to be South Africa's first mountain pass and which was route taken to get to Vic's farm
Rocklands) were named after him amongst many other landmarks.
As a young child Vicky grew up on the family farm Rocklands.
When he was old enough (which was not very old those days) he was sent off to Bishops Preparatory Boarding School and then eventually to Bishops High School.
There he acquired the nickname Doc, which was a sarcastic reference by a maths teacher of his lacklustre grasp of the mathematical curriculum.
Thankfully his passion lay not in many mathematical fields and after school he moved to Wheatlands here at Graaff- Reinet where he began his farming career and developed and nourished his love for the veld and nature.
He moved back to the family farm after the passing of his father when he was still a very young man where he remained farming for well over a half a century.
It was during this time that he met a local school teacher in Beaufort West named Lenore who not too long after became his wife, and mother of his two children John and Jenny.
After Lenore passed away some 14 years ago Vic decided to retire back in Graaff- Reinet, with only a handful of friends living there at the time, he made the bold decision to bid farewell to his 77 years on the farm to start a new life.
We met almost 40 years ago at a SA National Merino Championship showing in Beaufort West and I sensed immediately that he was a dedicated Merino man.
I believe he told John when he came to the farm that he can do whatever he wanted as long as he farmed with Merino sheep.
Vicky was a true Graaff-Reinetter and a staunch supporter of all he belonged to like for instance our ‘Granaat’ organisation - always willing to assist and one of the best listeners to a talk about nature.
I visited him shortly before his death, he was very frail I mentioned Granaat’s coming steak braai and he replied immediately: “ You must keep my ticket I want to be there”.
Ek wil af sluit met iets vir sy baie Afrikaans sprekende vriende en haal vir Albert Einstein aan soos gekwoteer in ‘n onlangse Burger.
Ek glo dit beskryf Vicky se uit kyk op die lewe perfek.
“'n Kalm en nederige lewe bring meer geluk as die na jag van sukses en roem.”
To the family - go home - start a new life without your dear father and grandfather and always remember he was the perfect gentleman who gave more than he received.
The author PJ Schoeman had a spoorsnyer who said: “When I die the soft wind from the sea will soon cover my tracks”.
Vicky, we, your family and friends say, ”the strong Karoo west wind can try but will never cover Vicky Molteno’s tracks in and around Graaff-Reinet“.
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