Helderberg businessman Antonio “Tony” de Gouveia’s philosophy of life was a straightforward one, “You have one life, live it.” Accordingly, he lived every moment as if it was his last; he would decide to do a road trip on a whim, let a struggling customer take food and leave their ID as collateral, sit outside his son’s school for an entire day if he was battling to adjust and needed a parent close by.

But that same motto carries a heavier weight now. On Wednesday 16 September, Tony’s life came to an end in a hospital bed with his loved ones at his side.
The former Strand Fisheries owner was 58 and would have celebrated his birthday on 27 September.
“We even planned something small like a gathering,” Maggie says. “And now, instead of celebrating his birthday, we have to have a funeral.”

Maggie recounts his final days with a steadiness that belies the weight of what she carries. When Tony was admitted to hospital, doctors who knew his history well did everything they could. Maggie asked only that they keep him alive – for the sake of the boys, 10 and 14, who adored their father.
She described Tony as a father who showed up. He made their porridge every morning and served it on a tray. He picked them up from school, took them out for meals and bought them gifts. “What they will always treasure, was the real quality time together. That love of a real father.”

The community knew Tony and Maggie through the popular fish-and-chips shop they owned for decades. When the couple sold the business in March 2024, DistrictMail & Helderberg Gazette reported on the bittersweet change of ownership that ended an era (“Nuwe era vir geliefde Strand Fisheries,” 27 March 2024). At the time, Maggie started working at a school while Tony planned to spend more time with their sons.

In the years after the family business was sold, Tony’s world narrowed. Maggie gently speaks of those years, choosing not to dwell on the difficulties but instead on the man she knew before – the man who insisted doctors proceed with her mother’s operation when funds could not be released, the man who had a commanding presence and a voice that made people sit up and listen, the man who surprised her with red roses when they were dating and called her his “sparkle”, his “live wire”.
“He had a very, very good heart,” she says. “He was affectionate, you know. When he held you, you genuinely felt held. He was a supportive husband. There was never a lack. He never let us suffer in any way.”

By Wednesday evening, with every option exhausted, the family said their farewells. His brother, Benidito de Gouveia and Maggie stood at his bedside, holding his hand in prayer.
She describes the loss as a tangle of emotions, all woven together. “It’s like all the emotions in one, you know, anger, love, everything…,” said Maggie, who stood by him through 24 years of marriage, through the good and the bad.

What the family choose to carry forward is simpler and kinder: the memory of a man who lived fully when he could, who loved his children fiercely, and whose motto now echoes as a reminder to cherish every moment.
He is survived by his wife Maggie, their two sons, two brothers and a sister, and an aunt.