Update
GLENTANA NEWS - The drowning of Wolfgang Fechter (64), beloved father, grandad, masters swimmer and doer of all things, has left his family and friends broken-hearted.
Fechter, a Durban local, died while swimming at Glentana Beach on 13 March. The exact cause of his death is not yet known.
Ann Gray, a committee member of the KZN Masters Swimming Association, of which Fechter had been president, said they had been in the area for the 41st SA Masters National Swimming Championships that took place in George.
Aside from his presidency of this association, he was also a member of the Synergy Masters Swimming Club.
Two other committee members of KZN Masters, Carina Hambloch and Rosemary Clark, had nothing but praise for him.
“A former president of SA Masters Swimming [2019-2022], Wolfgang served the sport with dedication. Known for his kindness and gentle nature, he was a respected leader and friend.
“His fellow Synergy swimmers honour his memory by celebrating his life and dedicated their open water swims on Saturday 14 March to him.
“His lane may be empty, but his legacy lives on,” said Hambloch.
Clark said: “Wolfgang took part in as many open-water swims as he could and he was always at the KZN Masters monthly galas. He loved breaststroke, but swam all the other strokes as well, so he was a valuable team swimmer for relays. We have lost a passionate swimmer and friend.”
Considering all his roles and titles, it’s no wonder his children joked with him about his string of hobbies.
“As we got older, we mocked him that he can’t join any ‘hobby’ without becoming the chairman, the president, the treasurer, or somehow needing to make decisions as to swim gala tracksuit colours, moving a school to a new property, building a new church, closing an old church building, renaming a swimming club or building a new retirement village,” said his daughter, Karin Pieterse.
But even with these fond memories, she said they are shattered to have lost this vibrant energetic person. “Strong, healthy and full of life and plans,” is how she described him.
“He was my dad. He was a good dad and a phenomenal granddad. He had a tendency to leave things better than he found them. He taught us to think and question our world and then showed us through his many many commitments that we don’t have to leave things as we find them.”
Pieterse said he believed that through careful thought, clear decision, dedication and patience, one could make things better.
According to her, all these things he did were not always glamorous or easy, or even things he searched for, they were “just those things around him that needed doing”.
And then, of course, there was his actual work, another place where he gave his all, she said. “At work as an engineer, he built a number of industrial plants, saw them succeed and some fail as the markets changed; he worked on the bioethanol plan for South Africa; he even managed project teams to build dams and bridges.”
Pieterse also recalls a memory from when she was only a little girl. “He loved this country. As a four-year-old, I remember his excitement in 1994. I was massively privileged to grow up with his attitude to life, his open love for people, his acceptance of them as he found them, and his desire and drive to grow good things for the communities he was part of.
“He meant much to so many people. To me and my sibling, he was mostly just Dad - silly, kind, safe and home.”
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