(15 January 1924 – 16 September 2026)
Our dad Eli Kitay was born in Pretoria on the 15th of January 1924. He was in Arcadia House and matriculated aged 15 at Pretoria Boys High School in 1939, before studying a BSc at Tukkies and then post-graduate Civil Engineering at Wits.
Having moved to Johannesburg, Eli married Hazel in 1952 and they were married for just under 72 years, when Hazel passed away, having borne them their three sons.
In 2001 Eli and Hazel moved to Perth, where they joined their son Mervyn, his wife Evelyn and their 3 children. Right up until moving to Perth aged 78, Eli had worked full-time at the Johannesburg City council in Braamfontein, Johannesburg as a Civil Engineer in the Roads Department.
Not content to sit around doing nothing, Eli worked as a “lollipop man” for a few hours each day helping at a local school crossing. This way he said he had to get up every morning by 7am and be back by 3pm for the afternoon session.
He continued road running for a few more years as he had done in Johannesburg and then went back into the pool and open water swimming where he remained active well into his 90’s.
Eli passed away suddenly on Wednesday 16 September 2026 from heart failure.
Although an old man by then, he was mentally agile and focused. He suffered no fools and challenged the staff at his Aged Care Home continuously. For his 102’nd birthday he said to his daughter-in-law Evelyn:
“You can’t fit 102 candles on a cake.
Let’s use a 100-watt globe plus 2 candles instead”
(The eternal engineer)
Such was the man. Eli leaves behind his three sons and daughters-in-law, nine grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren. His legacy will live on having inspired countless boys and girls, men and women to “keep moving“!
May his memory always be a blessing!
Mervyn Kitay,
In Perth, Western Australia