Dear CTARC Members,
It is with great regret and sadness that I have to inform you of the passing of our friend and fellow club member
Charles Oertel ZS1CJO. As many of you knew Charles had been battling with cancer for a couple of years. Charles dutifully looked after our club's electronic QSLing responsibility for some time now and was always there to lend a hand at our annual Lighthouse Weekend events and functions. I think it was about two years ago that he came and gave a talk about Electronic Logging and QSLing at our club house.
Always a smiling face and a kind word for everybody. Charles will be well remembered and sorely missed by all who knew him. I would like to thank a past member of CTARC, and neighbour of Charles and Julie, Frank ZS1CM, for letting us know early today.
Rob ZS1SA
Chairman CTARC
Here is a message we received from Julie, Charles' XYL:
Our beloved Charles passed away on Saturday 6 June, at 18h10, losing his two and a half year battle to pancreatic cancer.
Due to current Lockdown restrictions, we will be postponing his Memorial until further notice.
This group is just to keep everyone informed. Thank you to everyone for your overwhelming support and love.
(You
are welcome to message Julie on via her e-mail or cellphone, which
information will be supplied on request by Anne, the CTARC Secretary.)
Here is another eulogy we received from Julie. It was read out on the
CTARC Sunday Morning Bulletin of 08h30 on Sunday 14 June 2020, by Paul
ZS1S:
Thank you for sharing your moments you had with Charles.
I
am so glad he had the years he did with the club, before he became too
tired and ill to participate. He really enjoyed the time spent with you
all, learning new things along the way, building up his collection of
ham radio equipment with the help and advice from you all, pottering
around in his study and listening to the Sunday broadcast. My sons, who
live with us, used to always smile when they heard all the strange
bleeps coming from his study, and fondly say that Dad was communicating
with his alien buddies again. He took such joy away from all the
interactions he had, whether it was over the radio, at club meetings or
club events, his life was enriched.
I think the
last time he was involved with radios was when he was in the Antarctic
as part of the SANAE team from Dec 1988 to Feb 1990 - his job was to
film the Aurora.
He was, by training, a space physicist (a
genuine Rocket Scientist - a good icebreaker when asked what he studied).
He did his undergrad degree at Natal University and his honors at Wits
in Applied Maths and Theoretical Physics, winning a gold medal, for
being the top student. He then represented Natal University, as the one
of the scientists on the SANAE team.
For many
years he spoke of getting back into it and I am so glad he did, and am
so grateful for all the club members that made his time with the club so
enjoyable.
Charles packed more into his 56 years than most people do in a few lifetimes -
‘A flame that burns twice as bright, burns half as long’ quote by Lao Tzu
We are missing him terribly, but also know, that although, physically he is gone, he is still with us in every other way.
Our sincerest condolences to Julie and her family for their sad loss. We will all miss Charles greatly.
