Alexander Herholdt Siemers was born on the ninth of September 1927 at the Lady Buxton Home in Cape Town. His father was, at that time, stationmaster in the beautiful town of Franschhoek. Alex was the youngest of five children: two girls and three boys and was named after his father. His unusual middle name was the surname of his paternal grandmother. During Alex’s early years, the family moved frequently as his father was transferred from one station to another, eventually achieving a senior management position in the South African Railways, having started work as a messenger. As well as Franschhoek, they lived in Cape Town, Mafeking, Port Elizabeth, and Vereeniging. In Mafeking, one of Alex’s sisters, Helena, died from enteric fever at the age of eighteen. As a young boy, Alex very much enjoyed visiting his maternal grandparents at their farm in Riebeeck Kasteel. The family would travel by train to Hermon station where Alex’s grandfather would meet them with his horse and cart. When Alex left school, he went to Stellenbosch University and did a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Chemistry and Zoology followed by a teaching diploma. He would really have liked to study medicine but felt his parents could not afford to support him through such a long course of study. However, he took a lifelong interest in medical science – as any doctor who has ever treated him will attest! When he left University, Alex secured a post as science teacher in charge of chemistry at Prince Edward School in Harare. He moved to Zimbabwe in 1951 and it became his home for the rest of his life. Prince Edward School played a huge part in his life and many of the staff and pupils became lifelong friends. While he was at Prince Edward, two major events occurred in his personal life. The one event was immensely sad: his brother, Paul, was killed in a car crash. Paul left a wife and four daughters. When Paul’s widow died soon afterwards, Alex found himself the guardian of their youngest daughter, Annette. As a bachelor living in a different country, he felt he could not take on this responsibility and arranged for Annette to live with her mother’s relatives. The other event was very happy: Alex met and married Dawn Walker. When he was dying, Alex said, “One of the most wonderful things in my life was being married.” Alex and Dawn had three children: Lynette, Alexander and Paul. Alex was promoted through the ranks of the education department, eventually becoming deputy secretary for education. In 1980, he was in Sri Lanka on department business when he suffered a stroke. He retired on the grounds of ill health but, after a year or so, felt well enough to look for “a little teaching job”. The “little teaching job” turned out to be managing director of the Speciss group of colleges – a position which he filled so well that he was awarded the honour of “Businessman of the Year”. He eventually stepped down from managing director but continued to act as a consultant until, at the age of 72, he decided work was taking up too much of his time. Shortly before he retired, Alex and Dawn moved to Blue Kerry where they have spent fourteen very happy years. Alex remained close to all his family, especially his surviving siblings, Elsa and Bert. He delighted in following the progress of his children, nieces and nephews and, ultimately his grandchildren. He said, “My family was everything to me.”