“You just blink your eyes and then you are old,” says Nellie van Dyk, arguably the oldest resident of the Standford/Gansbaai district. On 28 February she turned 102 years old.
She’s talkative, curious . . . wants to know about visitors . . . who they are, where they come from. It’s definitely not all about her. “Every morning when I wake up I pray that I will have a visitor. It gets boring just sitting around,” she said.
Life has been good to her. Born Nellie Lötter, she grew up on the farm Vredenburg outside Stanford. It was only as a young woman that she met husband-to-be Daniël Petrus van Dyk, even though he had been raised on a neighbouring farm, Hartebeeskloof, which is now sixth-generation Van Dyk-owned.
The couple lived at Hartebeeskloof for 56 years. When Daniël passed away, his widow moved to Victoria Close in Stanford. The family decided she could no longer live alone when she was nearing the 100 year-mark. She is now a resident at the Herberg aan See retirement village in Gansbaai.
Van Dyk went to school in the Stanford district and then attended a finishing school in Stellenbosch.
There she learnt the fine art of making christening and wedding dresses and cake decorating. She became a seamstress of note in the area.
Her fingers are still itching to create. “My daughter Glaudina has a wool shop in Montagu. I think I will ask her to bring me some wool . . . then I can knit again,” she stated.
She and her beloved Daniël had three children, Jan, Petronella and Glaudina. Petronella, who was Stanford’s previous Municipal Manager, died a few years ago. Van Dyk has six grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
She was the eldest of six children and the only one still alive. “It does make me forlorn.“ – Nelly Roodt
