Neil Garlick 8 Sep 1917-14 May 2011

Neil Garlick was my father's cousin, my first cousin once removed. He was born a month before my dad. Although we lived in the same town, our families didn't socialise much. We had loads of cousins, too many to keep up with. It was only after my dad died in January 2000 that I became interested in the Garlick family history. This led me to Neil who had a wealth of papers and documents and his own notes about his parent's families.

Neil was delighted to share his stories with me. And so began many years of visits to his home on Chart Farm, and many conversations about my great-grandfather, John Garlick, who had come to Cape Town from Boston, England, and founded a retail store that became one of South Africa's famous department stores: Garlick's.

About a month ago Neil took to his bed. Always an active man, over the past few years he was no longer able to get around without a walker and finally, even the walker became too much for him. His mind remained sharp as a razor, never missing a thing, with a memory that put me to shame. In early June 2008, three years ago, I took Neil on a trip to Nelspoort in the Karoo, where his grandfather had established a TB sanatorium. On the way we nearly ran out of petrol on a stretch of very lonely road, due entirely to my foolhardiness. Last week he reminded me of it. I'd forgotten.

I saw him on Wednesday and Thursday last week and told him I'd be away for the weekend but would see him again on Monday. That was not to be. He died peacefully on Saturday evening. I will miss him and the visits to his home, the many conversations and especially his reflections on working in the family business.

At the Nelspoort Sanatorium, 2nd June 2008