After matriculating in 1957 with German as a third language, he read Civil Engineering at Wits, and graduated in 1963.
His first job was with LTA and he worked on digging the hole in Commissioner Street which was the foundation of the Carlton Hotel. After marrying Irene, he moved to Munich, Germany and worked there for a couple of years and returned to SA fluent in speaking German. He then worked for several Civil engineering firms, and was located in Vereeniging, Botswana, Middleberg Tvl. Newcastle, and finally settled in Benoni. On the way he had three daughters, all of whom achieved well in their own right. Presently Susan is head of Wykeham Collegiate in Pietermaritzburg. In the latter part of his career, he was involved in sliding shuttering, used in the construction of grain silos; the twinning of the single road from Heidelberg to Villiers; the routing of the N4 around the North of Pretoria, all the way to the Botswana border. He also worked on the water intake races to the Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme, near Ladysmith, and finally the flyover bridge at Gilhooly’s interchange.
During his career he was called several times, as an expert witness in arbitration hearings, helping settle disputes between contractor and client. One most notable case involved a dispute with the Gautrain between Rosebank and Park Station.
All his varsity career and later life, he was very actively involved in rowing, and would have won his Springbok colours in 1964, had South Africa not been kicked out of the Tokyo Olympics in that year. He finally received Springbok colours as a coach in the rowing team that went to Germany.
After retiring to Sheffield Beach, he joined up with the Durban rowing club, which operated from Durban harbour. He was soon recognized as a most competitive oarsman, and was welcomed by all at the club.
Most of this latter activity was after has had already had several operations for cancer. He had his own single scull which he used on water nearby on the North Coast but mostly enjoyed being part of a crew of 4, which required driving two hours early morning to Durban while the water in the harbour was still calm enough. In spite of his severe physical handicap at that stage, he became heavily involved in arranging duplicate bridge where he lived, and during the Carona pandemic, was able to continue arranging bridge on the internet, right up to the end.
He passed away peacefully at home and leaves a wife, three daughters, and 5 grandchildren.
Rest in Peace Tony.
Richard Tasker