yard men of the past
YARD MEN OF THE PAST
Ian Holmes and his team recently took a walk down memory lane, remembering some of the stalwarts who played a significant role in the history of Murray & Roberts.

The style of contracting and the way that Murray & Roberts engaged its markets in earlier days, under the titles Murray & Stewart and Roberts Construction, meant that these construction operations had very significant workshop and yard support sections.

A wide variety of complex functions were performed in these yards including form-work manufacture and design, fabrication of complex steel support works and structures, development of specialist equipment and other service functions such as transport and materials.

By no coincidence, all of the people we feature here shared some clearly identifiable common characteristics. They had distinctly individual styles of management, ran very tight ships and seemed to stay with the group for a very long time.

The longest serving was Fritz Schwarzenberger who started as a lorry driver for J D Roberts in 1934. Apparently, his first lorry was steam propelled. In those earlier days, the yard was located at Cleveland and in 1959 the present property at Elandsfontein was acquired. He progressed through the ranks and at the end of his career was Managing Director of the Transvaal Services Yard at Elandsfontein. By the time of his retirement Fritz had completed 50 years with the Group.

Fritz is remembered as a very strict disciplinarian who took good care of his employees. He passed away in the early 1990s and his widow, Renata, has gone to live with a son in America.
 

Anyone associated with the Natal yard would surely have dealt with Ken van As. Ken served the group for 44 years, starting in 1947. His time was split between the ‘Transvaal’ and Natal.

In his retirement tribute it was said of Ken: “He demonstrated what dedication, commitment, enthusiasm and, above all, loyalty, really meant. He was, however, not a man to be crossed lightly. He soon let the offender know that the game wasn’t played that way. His integrity was unquestioned and he did not tolerate dishonesty in anyone.”

Sadly Ken did not enjoy much retirement and he passed away in 1992 having retired in 1991.

 

As a director of the Orange Free State company based in Welkom, with responsibility for the plant and equipment yard, Sam was instrumental in ensuring that resources were always available to meet the exacting demands of the mining industry. Sam was also the commodore at the Welkom Yacht Club. A great people’s person, he directed with an iron fist but had a heart of gold when it came to his relationships with colleagues.

Sam will be fondly remembered by the many young engineers and foremen who had the pleasure of working with him until his retirement in the mid 1980s. He passed away earlier this year.

Sam McIlrath, or Uncle Sam as he was affectionately known by some, was one of the pioneering stalwarts of Roberts Construction in the Freestate, in the 1960s and 1970s when the gold mines embarked on massive expansion programmes.

 

Harry Lucas joined Murray & Stewart in 1948 as a buyer. He was always very close to D G Murray and in the mid 1960s Murray asked him to lead the yard which was then located in Patterson Road in Port Elizabeth. This yard had a joinery shop in which Harry took a great personal interest. The yard was later moved to Burman Road in Deal Party and Harry remained the manager until his retirement in March 1978. He was fortunate to enjoy many years of happy retirement with his wife, Helen, at their house in Amsterdamhoek in Port Elizabeth.

Harry’s love for carpentry and joinery occupied most of these retirement years. In 1994 Harry and Helen moved into Fairhaven Retirement Village and in July 2002 they moved to Johannesburg to be with their daughter. Harry passed away in February 2003 and is survived by his wife and children.
 

Lionel Schwan has for the past 10 years been retired at Fisherhaven in the Western Cape. Lionel joined Murray & Stewart in 1948 in Port Elizabeth and was posted to the Lang Dam contract as the time keeper. At an early age he displayed an aptitude for things mechanical and attracted the attention of D G Murray, who fostered his development in this direction.

Having run the plant yards in East London, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, Lionel eventually retired after 45 years as the managing director of Mustworks in 1993. Since then, he and his wife Esme have enjoyed retirement at their home in Fisherhaven where Lionel installs television aerials, takes part in local affairs and remains an avid fisherman. His son Michael currently works for Murray & Roberts Construction in Cape Town.