It is with sadness that we inform you of the passing of Oom Gielie Bester this morning. Oom Gielie, one of the longest serving members of of our society was taking care of the Paarl Region until 2016 when he handed over the reigns to Johan Lourens.
Oom Gielie was a real salt of the earth person who held all referees and their careers dear to his heart. Oom Gielie who served as Performance Reviewer until 2016 was well known amongst referees and he treated his Paarl Referees with utmost respect. He was also very clear that he wanted the Paarl region to be the best in the WP society. In 2015 when I became chairman Oom Gielie was still enjoying making a difference by refereeing low key school matches. He was an example to young and old alike.
We are pleased that we could as a society and as a member of the South African Rugby Referees Association celebrate Oom Gielie’s contributions to rugby refereeing by awarding him with a SARRA long service award in 2019.
We wish to express our sincerest condolences to all members of our society especially the Paarl Region who had a very close relationship with Oom Gielie. Our prayers go out to his wife and the extended family who from today will try and make sense of this sad loss.
May he be granted eternal peace as he joins a few refereeing stalwarts in heaven.
Rest Peacefully Oom Gielie. Your contributions to rugby refereeing will always be remembered. Thank you for touching the lives of many of our members in your special way.