Eckhard Stillfried von Fintel

Photo supplied by Bob Saunders

Eckhard Stillfried von Fintel.Sadly passed away unexpectedly on the 24
^th August 2015.

Obituary

Born in 1944 and educated at Hermannsburg School  he  later obtained a B.Com degree from UNISA.  Retired from the position as Principal Accountant and Section Head for the Msunduzi Municipality in the Creditors section of the City Treasurer’s Department after serving 30 years in Local Government.

He had been a member of 14 different Heritage and Cultural organisations including the Natal Inland Family History Society and the Natal Midlands branch of the Genealogical Society which he served enthusiastically for over 20 years.

He was very involved with the ‘Deutscher Verein  Pietermaritzburg’ and ‘Deutscher Kulturat  Kwa-Zulu Natal’ in excess of 20 years. He was a person prepared to take on positions on the various organisation’s committees which he served diligently.

He had over 32  articles published, many in the newsletters of the Family History Society and was a guest speaker on many occasions. His speciality being German Family Settlers in KwaZulu- Natal and the Eastern Transvaal.

In 2012 he was awarded ‘Fellow of the Genealogical Society of South Africa’, their highest award.

 

 When I submitted his CV to the Society it ran to 6 pages. Eckhard was a true accountant, he had kept a record of everything he had done  and every article he had written.  This year (2015) he received an award from the Pietermaritzburg Heritage Society for his many years of service and dedication to the German Heritage of  KwaZulu- Natal.

Eckhard was a man with an immense knowledge of his subject and was able to help many researchers in their quest for historic information on German Settlers. He had a personal library of about 2 500 books, mainly on Family, Church and Natal history. He had a collection of over 8000 digital images related to the latter. In the last few years he cut back on executive committee positions due to a health issue but despite that was always a source of excellent information and guidance. I know he will be sadly missed by all the organisations he was involved with.

Our sincere condolences go to his wife Marlene and children Rolf, Bernd and Kirsty.
John Deare – on behalf of the Committee and members of The Natal inland Family History Society and the Midlands branch of The Genealogical Society of South Africa.

I include one of the many tributes we have received from other branches:

On behalf of the West Gauteng branch of the GSSA I wish to express our sadness at the news of Eckhards passing. While we did not have regular contact with him, he was always prepared to assist with any queries and happy to share his vast knowledge with anyone interested. Eckhard clearly walked the walk in genealogical and family history terms (if one takes the time to review the CV which Simon has shared with us), and so another luminary and leader in his own right is lost to our cause. Yet another vast library is closed and I shudder to think what may have been irretrievably been lost, although my take on the man gives me some comfort that he would have ensured the most important information was recorded and still available.

Our deepest sympathy is therefore extended to his grieving family and friends. Rest assured that Eckhard will not be forgotten whilst any of our members who had the privilege to meet and have dealings with him are still around. I was profoundly impressed with the man when I met him, and for good reason. I am convinced that his loss will be felt for a long time by many - not only by those of us within the GSSA.

Bob (R.J.) Saunders
Chairman / GSSA West Gauteng

(Placed with permission from Bob)