Henri de Wet, 80, of Whitewright, passed away on Thursday, May 28. He was born on May 24, 1935, in Enkeldoorn, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) to Jacobus and Johanna Sofia Bester de Wet . Henri was educated at Prince Edward School, Salisbury, and earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree with Honors at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He married Rikki Steyn in Umtali, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1957.
After living in Rhodesia for over 40 years and South Africa for 10 years, Henri and Rikki moved to Texas in 1986. After working in a variety of industrial management positions in Rhodesia, South Africa, and the USA, Henri retired in 2005. Fluent in several African dialects in addition to English and Afrikaans, he enjoyed writing fiction and memoirs.
Henri published nine technical articles as well as short stories in various magazines. His first historical novel, “The Daly Vendetta,” was published as an ebook in May 2012 under the pen name of Hank Duval. It was followed by another novel “Busumani,” and a book of reminiscences, “My Memoirs and Other Stories.” He created a web site (www.HankDuval.com) for his writings as well as other fellow writers.
In boarding school, Henri began a life long interest in radio and was an avid Ham radio operator by the age of 21. He was a Master Gardener and liked to fish, a hobby from his childhood.
Through his work with the de Wet family tree, Henri had documented the immigration of the first de Wet family from Holland to the Cape of Good Hope in 1693. He was proud that there were thousands of de Wets documented worldwide.
Henri was a long time member of the Telling Our Stories program, and in 2008 he earned the Hastings Award for Outstanding Achievement in Autobiographical Writing. When Henri brought a reminiscence to share with fellow TOS members, the story had already been read by his family and other de Wets around the world. His stories of growing up in Rhodesia were eagerly awaited by TOS class members.
Henri was predeceased by his parents. Survivors include his wife, Rikki; three sons: Franz and wife Marinda of Paarl South Africa, Leon and wife Liz, of Lebanon Tennessee and Andre’ and wife Tammy of McKinney Texas, and two grandchildren: Lisa and Alec; as well as a host of TOS friends.
Graveside Services will be held 11:00 AM, Monday, June 1, 2015 at Vittitoe Cemetery, Whitewright, Texas.