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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