Obituary: Nigel Plumpton: The best times in life were around the campfire

 

Nigel Plumpton has been a friend of mine for some decades now. We met many years ago, through a mutual friend. He owned CNB Industries in Pietermaritzburg at the time, a shoe component company. I believe that he was the second generation in the shoes and leather industry, his dad had worked at Sutherlands tannery.

 

Nigel loved his dogs, his family, fishing, hunting and the outdoors and cooking. Overall, he just loved a good gathering or party! There were always lots of laughs and good humour around the campfires.

 

He really lived life to the full which us normal people never achieve. He also had a very generous side to him too.

 

For many years myself and my son, Andrew, joined Nigel on various wing shooting trips and each one was a separate adventure! We met many farmers along the way that became good friends. They showed us the landscapes of our beautiful South Africa and how much they loved their lands, it was in their blood.

 

Nigel only had one functioning kidney for most of his life and in recent years this had also deteriorated. He had to go in up to 3 times a week for dialysis treatments. Eventually he just decided that it was not a quality of life and he stopped the treatments. We were sad to have lost him as a friend and he passed away at home with his loved ones around him. We attended a memorial service at a lovely church along the Dargle Road, followed by a gathering in his honour. It was great to catch up with various friends and family that we had met along the way. There were some of Nigel’s employees from CNB that were also there and spoke highly of him.

 

Nigel Plumpton taught us to enjoy life, to stop and celebrate life and to make memories, I’ll miss a great friend! Hamba Kahle

 

 

 

I will miss Nigel and the many good times we enjoyed in the outdoors. It was such a pleasure to join Nigel and his son, Brian, on some great outdoor adventures. Usually great hunting dogs were also on the scene. Nigel had a pointer called Blaise, he almost spoke to Nigel with his barking!  Nigel really loved his Jack Russells too.

 

Nigel would take me aside at the end of an evening and say, “Hey Drew, your Oubaas is a lovely chap” … I would agree…   again…   We all need to really appreciate the loved ones around us.

 

The younger man is Brian, his son. The lady is the hostess at one of the shoots we used to go on, so we saw her and her family for nearly 20 years. Her name is Anemie Chalmers. It was a long weekend wing shoot, it was a way to raise funds for the Potgietersrus school. There were around 20 of us that used to go once a year for a long weekend. The money that was paid for the weekend went to fund the local school (Potgietersrus) and the local farmers would help with catering and take us to their various farms to hunt Guinea Fowl and Francolin.

 

What a privilege to have been a part of that!