Dr Hans (Johannes Jacob) Hofmeyr (1943O) | 1927 - 2019

Dr. Hans (Johannes Jacob) Hofmeyr, died on 22 December 2019 at the age of 94 and 4 days after a long sickbed.
 
In the words of Hans's son Johannes;

He attended Bishops from 1938 to 1943 ending as house prefect in 1943.  When I was a new boy in 1968, I had the same dormitory locker that he had!
 
Hans passed mataric in 1943 with a first-class pass and achieved the following:
 

1. Won the Afrikaans prize every year while at College.
2. Won Chemistry, Physics and Geography in “Junio Matric”
3. Swimming House captain and never lost a race in 4 years.
4. Boxing – heavy weight cup in 1942 and in 1943 there was no opponent! He had a skew nose as a result of a broken nose sustained during boxing.
5. He was a cadet officer and achieved the Shooting Marksman Badge.
6. Rugby – played first team and was awarded Colours. He was team secretary in 1942.

 
After School, he joined the navy and served on a mine sweeper.  He played rugby for the combined services – he was also frequently sea-sick!
 
After the war, he did a Varsity cram course in the 1styear at UCT and qualified M.B. Ch.B. In 1949 he rowed/coxed 4’s – the only varsity team.
 
Married Gwyneth Jean Campbell in 1946.
 
After qualifying, he practised as GP in Somerset West and was Medical Officer at Hottentots Hospital for 4yrs. To broaden his scope he spent 2 years as Superintendent of Stellenbosch Infectious Diseases Hospital where I was one of his TB patients as a youngster of about 2-3yrs old. During this time he also filled the role of Regional TB officer.  This was followed by a 4-year stint as Senior Surgical Medical Officer at the then Conradie Hospital.  He then spent a year as Stellenbosch Hospital as General Superintendent.  After this interlude, he resumed general practise in Somerset West.