A Tribute to Dave Sawyer

David John Sawyer was born on the 11 February 1941 in Birmingham, England, at a time of the terrible bombing of Birmingham during World War two. His Parents did not have him evacuated like many other children.

David was one of three boys. Laurie, the eldest, now no longer with us, and Colin, his younger brother, now living in France with his wife, Debbie.

After leaving school, he started an engineering apprenticeship at Cadbury`s chocolate factory in Bournville, not far from where his family lived.

He loved his sports, excelling in cricket and football, playing for the Bournville teams. 

It was at Cadbury`s that he met Deana and they courted for a few years before getting married in March 1960.

In April 1962, their first son, Nicholas, was born.

David worked hard to save up and buy their first house in a small town a few miles from Birmingham.

Life was hard in the 60s and David had to find a better paying job. He started work at the Austin car factory as a maintenance engineer and often worked the night shift.

In 1968, their second son, Timothy was born.

By the early 1970s, the work situation was not good, with industrial strikes and 3- day weeks. David looked to overseas for work. His brother, Colin was already living in South Africa, so David looked for work opportunities there.

In September 1975, he left England followed a month later by his family. They rented a house in Benoni and settled down to their new life, making many new friends, some of whom are here today. They eventually bought a house in Atlasville.

In January 1979, Nicholas left for England to Join the Royal Air Force and when Timothy was old enough, was conscripted into the South African Navy. It was just after when Tim became ill and nearly died. A very trying time for the family.

After various jobs, one of which was a director at Kwikhot, David moved out of engineering to start up a toy and gift card shop in Edenvale, which he ran with Deana and help from Elsie. This was the start of many enjoyable years learning about toys and making new friends.

In 1998, Deana and Tim moved back to England to be with family. David eventually decided to stay in SA for personal reasons. He continued to build up his collector`s shop with help from Cindy. 

And the rest they say, is History.

Nick, Maureen, Deana, Tim and all Davids family in the UK and other parts of the world, would like to thank everyone for all their heart felt messages, he was loved by everyone who got to know him and he will be greatly missed.

A special thank you must go to Kathy, Andrew, Cindy, Doris and family for all their help over the last weeks of David`s life.