It is with a very heavy heart that we announce the passing of Willem Brand on 3 February 2017, mere weeks short of his 80th birthday. Willem Brand was born on 20 February 1937 and sadly passed away earlier this year after a short illness.
Willem will always be remembered as a very enthusiastic scholar of
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refrigeration. He never seemed to quench his thirst for learning all that he could about refrigeration— the why and the how, and trying to solve any problem that he encountered.
One only needs to look at his library of books to appreciate how committed he was. In true style, when Willem decided to retire, he made sure that all of these books would be handed over to others in the industry. His library included works such as:
• Edwin Anderson, Commercial Refrigeration( 1986);
• JP Holman, Heat Transfer( 1992);
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• AE Russwurm, Energy Past Present Future( 1984); and
• Ray Dossat, Principles of Refrigeration( 1965).
Even during his last days in hospital, Willem spoke about the training of technicians and wanted to make sure that somebody would benefit from his subscription to Cold Link Africa.
Many will remember Willem for the years that he spent at Irvin & Johnson. He then moved to Viking Fishing, where he eventually worked part time, or as he called it,‘ semi-retired’.
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He was a key member of the South African Institute of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning( SAIRAC), joining on 1 March 1987 with membership number 388.
Willem was a sincere person but did not tolerate the mistakes of others easily and at times could be very descriptive in describing it.
His passing certainly came as a shock, as preparations had already been under way for his 80th birthday celebration.
Our deepest sympathy goes to Alvira, his two daughters, four grandchildren, and two greatgrandchildren. CLA
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Willem Brand: 20 February 1937 – 3 February 2017. |
Note from Nigel Amschwand on Willem
I first met Willem in Pietermaritzburg at the opening of Irvin & Johnson’ s new distribution cold store. This must have been in the early 1980s.
I got to know him better when I moved from Durban to Cape Town in
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1986. Willem was a long-time customer of the company I was working for. He was that rare blend of an engineer who really understood refrigeration theory while having enormous practical experience.
We worked together on various projects, which always went well. As an engineer of Willem’ s experience, he
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understood that sometimes things do go wrong, but there was always a method to get the project back on track.
He always had innovative ideas, sometimes coming up with a simple solution to a troublesome problem.
Engineers of Willem’ s calibre are a rarity, and I will always have the fondest memories of Willem.
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