OBITUARY – TONY CHEMALY
AN ERA ended recently when Tony Chemaly died in George at the age of 87.
Tony was the son of Joseph Chemaly, originally from Lebanon, of Irish descent. Joseph’s father ran Chemaly Brothers and Joe founded Chemaly’s Garage in Cathcart Road.
Tony attended Queen’s College and absconded in the hope of signing up for World War II duty, but he was not accepted as he was too young and had to return to Queen’s, cap in hand, to matriculate, which he did in 1947.
He followed his father into the motor trade and did a motor mechanic apprenticeship at Chemaly’s before heading off to pursue his soldiering passion by joining the British army. He trained at Sandhurst, doing time in the Bedfordshire regiment as a young officer.
When he returned, he worked at the Studebaker franchise in Grahamstown and this proved opportune as it was there that he met Nellie Maclean and they were married on November 1 1952.
They spent many years of their married life in Komani and their four daughters and a son were born here. There are nine grandsons and just one granddaughter of Donèe and Rory Taylor, who recently presented them with their first great-grandchild.
Apart from being a soldier and a businessman, Tony was a keen pilot and an active member in the Queenstown Flying Club.
He was an avid reader and loved his sports car, an MG BGT, often taking it on rallies with Nicola Preston, daughter of their Chamberlain Street neighbours Dighton and Judy Preston, as his navigator.
In addition to being a family man, Tony was passionate about the army and joined the First City regiment in 1948. He subsequently became its commanding officer and was eventually made honorary colonel of the regiment.
He was awarded many medals and commendations for service as a soldier and after selling his business, he joined the army full time before retiring as a brigadier general.
He became the national president of the SA Legion, where he oversaw the integration of the military veterans of the MK, and the SADF.
Tony and Nellie left Komani and went to Cape Town, before moving to a retirement village in George. He was a keen golfer and played at least twice a week
When Nellie’s health began to deteriorate, he took over the cooking, creating some delicious Lebanese dishes.
About 17 years ago, he had heart bypass surgery, and enjoyed many years of good health. Recently his health began to fail and he died peacefully in his sleep on October 22.His funeral was attended by many Legionnaires, Moths, First City colleagues, friends and family. His coffin was piped into the church by First City piper Chris Terry and the Moths and Legionnaires formed a guard of honour.