Tribute to centenarians: celebrating life

Sarah COPELOWITZ celebrated her 101st birthday on 29 March 2016. She was born on 29 March 1915 in West Street, Johannesburg, one of eight children born to Isaac KATZ and Leah Blumah FRIDMAN. Her father was a Torah scholar and reverend at the Lions Shul in Doornfontein. She attended the Jewish Guild Elementary School and Athlone Girls’ High. Sarah worked as a shorthand typist until she married Louis COPELOWITZ in 1935 in Johannesburg. He was a storekeeper and later a property owner. They lived in Kensington until moving to Saxonwold, where they built a home in 1955. The couple had four children: Stanley (1937-2002), Ethne Fruma (1940-2011), Ivan and Leone Bluma (lives in the USA). She and her husband were involved in a car accident in 1969, resulting in Louis’s death and severe burns to her legs. Sarah took over the management of their properties, doing the bookkeeping, and only sold them when she turned 95. At the age of 99, Sarah stopped travelling overseas and employed a live-in carer. She started teaching bridge at the Sydenham-Highlands North Hebrew Congregation and later at the Oxford Synagogue. Together with her friend Sari, she started the Sunshine Club (bingo for seniors) for the Union of Jewish Women. At the age of 101 years, she still sent her own e-mails and messages and was an avid reader. Sarah died on 26 August 2016 in Johannesburg.

Johanna MAZIBUKO died on 03 March 2023, at the age of 128, at home in Jouberton, Klerksdorp. Her birthdate was estimated to be 11 May 1894 on a maize farm in the Ottosdal area. Her identity document was issued in 1986 with that date of birth. Johanna was the eldest of 12 children. She married an elderly widower, Stawana MAZIBUKO, who had a horse carriage and cows. She would milk the cows and make butter to sell. She had seven children, five of whom predeceased her. She lived with her son, Tseko Mazibuko, and her daughter-in-law, Thandiwe Wesinyana, was her carer. Johanna had 50 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren. She was survived by three siblings.

Peggy KATZENELLENBOGEN celebrated her 100th birthday on 14 April 2025. She was born on 14 April 1925 in Nieuwoudtville to Lithuanian parents (KATZ). She went to school in the Strand. Peggy married Isaac (Sakkie) KATZENELLENBOGEN in 1948 at the Great Synagogue in Cape Town. He was mayor of Wolseley from 1969 to 1979, where they also ran the Wolseley Hotel and a general dealer. After selling the businesses, they moved to Johannesburg, where Isaac worked for MacSteel. When Wolseley built a new bridge over the railway line close to the hotel, they named it Sakkie Katzenellenbogen Road. Isaac died in 2012 in Johannesburg. The couple had four children. Peggy stopped driving at the age of 99. This great-grandmother was still playing tennis at Glenhazel Tennis Club.

Minnie KAPLAN celebrated her 100th birthday on 12 May 2025. She was born on 12 May 1925 in Daugieliszki, Poland (now in Lithuania), to Yudel MATZKIN and Sarah Necha USSPOL. Her father came to South Africa in 1926. Her mother followed in 1929, with the children Morris (8 years old) and Minnie (4 years old). The family settled in Pretoria. Minnie was diagnosed with celiac disease in her 20s. She later established the Celiac Society of South Africa, which she ran until she was in her 90s. Her first marriage was to Isiah SHEIN in 1950 in Pretoria. He was a storekeeper in Germiston and died in 1961. Minnie’s second marriage was to Louis Edward KAPLAN in 1965. He died in 1996 in Johannesburg. Minnie is the honorary life president of the Emunah South Africa Women’s Organisation. She has two daughters, three grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. Her younger sister, Ida, lives in Canada.

Gwendoline (Gwen) Elizabeth GANNON celebrated her 101st birthday on 25 September 2025 at her home in Camps Bay. She was born on 25 September 1924 in Victoria West to Benjamin Charles GANNON and Helena Johanna Elizabeth (Nauti) BASSON. Helena studied singing in Stellenbosch and then went to Upington to teach. She met Benjamin in Upington. He was a chemist and a divorcee with one daughter. Helena’s father wouldn’t let her get married until she had studied further in London, England. She did so, and upon her return, she married Benjamin in 1921. They used to put on concerts all over Natal, with Benjamin making the arrangements. In 1926, while living in Durban, Benjamin left to make arrangements and never returned. Helena later heard he’d left the country with all her money. He later returned to South Africa, and after making promises about getting a job in Durban and reuniting the family, his divorce was finalised in 1931. Helena and Gwen first lived with friends in Irene, Pretoria, but shortly afterwards returned to the family farm, Klipvlei, in Morreesburg. Gwen was 2 years old and stayed with Helena’s brother on the farm until she was seven years old. Gwen joined her mother, then a singing teacher in Stellenbosch. Her parents were divorced in 1931.
Gwen attended Rhenish Girls’ High School in Stellenbosch, where she matriculated in December 1942. After matriculating, she started her first year of medical studies at the University of Stellenbosch. Helena died in 1944, and Gwen moved to Cape Town. She started her second year at the University of Cape Town (UCT), graduating in 1948. While at UCT she met Gabriel Theron (Gawie) FAGAN, a second-year engineering student. She started her housemanship at Standerton Hospital in 1948, as Gawie was then studying architecture at the University of Pretoria. She later worked at 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria. In December 1949, she married Gawie in Stellenbosch.
They lived on a smallholding in Kameeldrift, Pretoria, where they had 18 dairy cows. Gwen worked as a doctor at the military hospital in Pretoria, and Gawie as an architect for Volkskas Bank. Gawie bought an aircraft, a Tri-pacer (ZS-DGO), with a Volkskas loan and flew himself across South Africa to supervise construction on 50 branches of Volkskas Bank. The couple had four children: Henry Allan (Hennie), Helena (Toetsie), Jessie and Lida. Hennie is an engineer who is responsible for, among others, Kirstenbosch’s suspended walkway (the Boomslang) and the Greenpoint Stadium. Helena is an international triathlete and international clarinet player, and she was a lecturer at the Windhoek College of the Arts, where she was a head of department. Today she is the CEO of the Hout Bay Harvest Centre, which includes the popular Hout Bay Market. Jessie lives on a farm in Grabouw.
In 1960, Gawie and Gwen took an extended overseas trip, leaving the children with family. After Gawie’s father died in December 1963, Gwen and the children returned to Cape Town to stay with Gawie’s mother in Keurbos. Gawie remained in Pretoria to sell the farm. He resigned from Volkskas in 1964 and returned to Cape Town, where he set up his firm. While on a flight, Gawie had an idea about how the next family home should look. He didn’t have paper with him, and the man next to him had a cigarette box, so he drew the house on that cigarette box. Strapped for cash after moving to Cape Town, the family built the house in Camps Bay themselves. The building took two years, while Gwen worked mornings at Karl Bremer Hospital. They named the house Die Es (The Hearth).
Gwen worked as a medical doctor until 1969, after which she joined her husband’s firm, Gabriel Fagan Architects, as a historical researcher and landscape planner to help with the restoration work of 28 houses after the Tulbagh earthquake. In 1995 she earned a PhD in landscape design from the University of Cape Town.
Gawie’s first conservation project was at La Dauphine in 1966. In 1969, Gawie carried out renovations on Tulbagh Main Street, and later, he restored the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town. In 1982, he won the Transatlantic yacht race from the Cape to Punta del Este and the 2003 race to Bahia. In 1988, he made an epic voyage from Portugal to Mossel Bay in a replica caravel to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Bartolomeu Dias in the Cape in 1488. He died on 13 September 2020, at the age of 94, at Die Es.
Their architectural studio was at 156 Bree Street. They also had a holiday home, Paradys, in Langebaan. At the age of 101, Gwen still went into the office every Monday, by Uber. She still had guests for dinner every Wednesday evening and often eats at Café Frank in Bree Street.
Gwen recorded the history of Cape gardens, combining archival research with horticultural practice to restore, among others, the gardens of Tuynhuys, Boschendal, Tulbagh’s Church Street, De Oude Drostdy and Vergelegen. She also conducted research on the roses that were planted at the Cape since the 17th century. The result was the book “Roses at the Cape of Good Hope”, published in 1988. Her other books include “Church Street in the Land of Waveren”, which she and Gawie wrote together about the restoration work in Tulbagh; “Nauti se Gwendoline/Nauti’s Gwendoline”, which is a biography about Gwen’s early life in Moorreesburg and Stellenbosch; “Brakdak: Flatroofs in the Karoo”, which she compiled with Gawie; and “Gwendoline’s Gawie”, which documents her life with Gawie from their student days to married and professional life.

In a rare celebration, Jaffa, the Pretoria Jewish Home for the Aged, had three centenarians celebrating their 100+ birthdays in 2024: Wilfred (Willie) Charles POKROY (100), Rachel Slatee (Ockey) SALMENSON (101) and Zelda WOLFE (100).
Wilfred (Willie) Charles POKROY was born on 03 August 1924 in Claremont, Cape Town, and moved to Johannesburg when he was two years old. He attended Doornfontein Primary School and Athlone Boys’ High School. During World War II he served in the South African Air Force as an instructor. He moved to Pretoria in 1946, where he started a branch of L Feldman Tobacconists. He was also a musician, playing the trumpet in several dance bands. In 1950 he married Rhona Annette SHOLOMIR, and they settled in Pretoria. In 2015, an attack in their home led to Rhona’s death. Willie and Rhona had four children: Darryl Frank (1957-2024), two living in Pretoria and one living in Dubai. Willie has seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Rachel Slatee (Ockey) SALMENSON celebrated her 101st birthday on 15 June 2024. She was born on 15 June 1923 in Pretoria to KAHN. She attended Hamilton School and Pretoria Girls’ High School. After graduating high school, she worked in the Union Buildings, which at the time housed the Department of Home Affairs as well as the Prime Minister’s office. Ockey’s job was to complete birth, marriage, and death certificates at Home Affairs. Her next job was as a receptionist at ABC Coal. At a dance, she ran into Levi Isaac Joseph (Joe) SALMENSON. He was from Piet Retief and first arrived in Pretoria as a boarder at Pretoria Boys’ High School. They were married in 1948. Joe started Penpoint Stationers in the Pretoria central business district, and Ockey went to work there. The couple had three children, two sons and a daughter, all now living in Atlanta, USA. Ockey has four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Joe died in 1992. Ockey was active in the Union of Jewish Women. She is a bowls player at Wingate Park.
Zelda WOLFE was born on 06 March 1924 in Johannesburg to Max Reuben BRENER and Malie KAPLAN but grew up in Balfour. She finished school at the Johannesburg Technical College. She began her four-year military career in 1941, spending the remaining years of World War II in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Services and ending up with the rank of sergeant. She worked in the army paymaster’s corps. She met her husband, Hyman (Jock) WOLFE, in the military. He had been up north but came back on leave in 1943. They were married in the old shul in Pretoria in 1945. The couple had four children, two girls and two boys, with two still living in South Africa, one in Sweden and one in Israel. Jock died in 2009. Zelda had nine grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. She did voluntary work for the Pretoria Chevrah Kadisha and played bowls at Wingate. She died on 05 August 2025.

Evelyn Lewis REYNOLDS (maiden name BARTLETT) celebrated her 100th birthday on 18 April 2023 with a high tea in Pretoria and a family dinner that evening. Eve was born on 18 April 1923 in Johannesburg, where she spent most of her early years. She was the youngest of five children, having two brothers and two sisters. She completed her schooling in Johannesburg and worked in, among others, a sweet factory. Eve participated competitively in acrobatics and dance and played social tennis. She married Gordon Conway (Mick) REYNOLDS in 1948 in Johannesburg. The couple had two sons and have four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Eve and Mick were among the early residents of Alberton. The first residential development was opposite the cemetery, and the second was at the end of Second Avenue in Florentia, on the corner of Du Plessis Street. They were involved in the community, helping to establish a care home for boys and also running the local Boy’s Brigade. Eve enjoys cooking, baking, cake decorating, sewing, knitting, and crocheting. In the early 2000s, Eve and Mick moved to Pretoria. Mick died in 2008 in Pretoria.

Beatrice Anne VAN SCHALKWYK (maiden name DAVIS), known as Aunty Beatie, celebrated her 100th birthday on 09 March 2023 at home in Garlandale, Cape Town. She was born on 09 March 1923 in Rondebosch, the eldest of six siblings. At the age of 14, Beatrice started working in the clothing and textile industry, even though the minimum age for work at the time was 16. She stopped working at the age of 79 after her mother became ill. Beatrice took on alterations work at home, and people paid her what they could afford. At the age of 100, she still sews, knits, and crochets, donating all the items she makes for her local church, St Mary of the Angels, on Lawrence Road. Beatrice is one of the oldest and one of the original parishioners of St Mary’s. Over the years, she sewed many altar cloths and linen for the church and priests. Beatrice never smoked or drank alcohol, and she maintained her health by eating a nutritious diet. She married Nicholas Matthew VAN SCHALKWYK in 1946 at St Mary of the Angels church. At the time, he was a lorry driver. He died in 1995. Beatrice won a newspaper competition in 1989 – a trip to the Comoros Islands for nine days for her and her husband. She’s also flown to Johannesburg, Zimbabwe, and Mauritius.

Maria Gertruida Elizabeth DUKAS celebrated her 100th birthday on 29 July 2025 in Welkom. She was born on 29 July 1925 in Wepener, the daughter of Archibald Joseph NORVAL and Susanna Susara ENGELBRECHT. In 1946 she married Peter William DUKAS in Ventersburg. They settled in Hennenman, where Maria opened a small grocery store, Dukas Café. The couple had four children: Douglas, Basil, Maureen and Butch. Peter died in 1987 in Hennenman. Maria has 13 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandchild.

Johanna Margaretha Sophia MARAIS of Panorama, Cape Town, celebrated her 105th birthday on 19 July 2025. Cape Town’s mayor, Geordin HILL-LEWIS, paid her a visit on the day. She was born on 19 July 1920 in Aberdeen to Schalk Willem MARAIS and Johanna Margaretha Sophia MOUTON. She never married or had children. Her sister, Anna ROSSOUW, predeceased her, and Anna’s son, Pieter, looked after Johanna until she moved into a retirement home. At the age of 90, she took a flight for the first time. The pilot was Eon DE VOS, and he met her to welcome her aboard.

Margaret MARITZ died on 29 July 2025 in Touws River at the age of 118. She was born on 27 September 1906 in Sutherland and lived in Laingsburg, Cape Town, and De Doorns before Touws River. She lived at the AGS Tehuis vir Bejaardes in Touws River since 2015. She had 14 children; only four are still alive today. Margaret was married twice and was employed as a domestic worker on farms. Her eldest daughter, Gertryde (81), also lives in Touws River. Another daughter, Liza (68), lives in Cape Town. There’s also Katrina (80). Her brother, in his 80s, lives in Laingsburg.