Peter van den Bergh was with us for only one year, as a new boy in the 6L form in 1961.  (His given name was actually Petrus, but he used the anglicized version of Peter throughout his life.)  He was a courteous and amiable pupil who passed largely unnoticed by the rest of our year.  This was a pity, as he was a person of many talents.

Peter attended the Air Force Gym in 1962, and then joined the Standard Bank in 1963.  He married Kathleen Despard in 1969.   They had no children.

Peter remained in banking for the rest of his career.  In 1982 he obtained his Associate Certificate of the SA Institute of Bankers with the second highest grade in the entire country.  He then transferred to the Corporate and Merchant Division of Standard Bank.  There he became the top achiever for 1994, and in 1995 the bank sponsored him to study for a year at Northwestern University in Chicago, for a Diploma in General Management.   From 1996 to 2001 he was Senior Executive at the Division.  He was then recruited by ABSA Corporate and Merchant Bank to become General Manager from 2000-2006.

Peter retired in 2007, when this photo was taken:

He then started his own consulting company, Killaghy Solutions.  In 2008 he became a registered Debt Counsellor and concentrated on providing corporate and individual clients with strategies for managing financial problems.

Peter was a karate enthusiast.  He gained his 1st Dan black belt in 1986 and his 2nd Dan in 1989.  (A Dan award signifies successful and very intensive training.)

Peter also retained an interest in flying from his youthful days at the Air Force Gym.  He took his Private Pilot Licence in 1993 and was an active member of local flying associations, serving as the chairman of the Witwatersrand University Flying Association in 1996, and of the Witwatersrand Flying Association for several years from  2010.   He took his Commercial Pilot Licence in 2011.

Peter joined the Class of 1961 website in 2014, and attended our 55 year reunion lunch in Johannesburg in 2016.  Here he is chatting with John Thompson:

Peter was a man of wide interests.  He listed the following: flying;  the bush;  classical music; travel; animal welfare; human rights; and poverty alleviation.

In 2022  Peter was driving in Gauteng when his car went off the road and crashed.  Unfortunately Peter died of his injuries on 22 April 2022.

Peter van den Bergh is survived by Kathleen, his wife of 53 years.