Farewell, Chester Williams
A rugby hero, a besotted husband, a devoted dad – Chester Williams will be missed by all who knew and loved him
HE WAS a trailblazer at a time when the country needed it most; a celebrated rugby star whose talent knew no bounds and who made his mark in South Africa’s victorious 1995 World Cup squad. He paved the way for other players of colour to succeed in professional rugby and proved the critics who called him a “quota player” wrong.
Yet of all his achievements, his greatest was being a dedicated family man and loving father – and right up to the end he was with people he loved most.
South Africans were shocked when news of Chester Williams’ death broke. He was just 49 years old when he died of a heart attack on 6 September.
That Friday, Chester started his day at a warehouse helping workers pack his beer, a close family friend says. The rugby legend had recently launched Chester’s Lager and Chester’s IPA ahead of this year’s Rugby World Cup.
The brews were going to be the only South African beer on sale during the tournament in Japan, a huge achievement by any measure. But Chester was prouder of the fact that South Africans would be able to taste his branded beer that very night at a local pub for the first time.
After they finished packing the goods, he headed to the University of the Western Cape (UWC), where he worked as a director of rugby, for a meeting.
Later he hit the gym with his twins, Matthew and Chloe (15).
“When he got home, he told his wife, Maria, he had a pain in his chest,” says the friend, who declined to be named as he isn’t the official family spokesman.
“His sister, Anthea, was in hospital after suffering a heart attack and Maria didn’t want to take any chances so she decided to drive him to hospital.”
The couple lived in Plattekloof, Cape Town, with their twins, and Maria piled them into the car too, then rushed to nearby Mediclinic Panorama.
Chester, who was in the back seat with the kids, told her the pain had intensified and he was short of breath.
Maria told him to cough because she’d read that’s what doctors told people to do when they suspected they were having a heart attack. Watching him in the rear-view mirror she saw him collapse
and lose consciousness. Chester died on the way to hospital. Despite the efforts of four doctors, he couldn’t be revived and was declared dead before a priest was called to perform the last rites.
Maria, his wife of 17 years, is devastated, the friend says.
WHEN Chester tied the knot for the second time, he promised it was the last.
Maria, who worked in public relations and
whom he’d met through rugby, was “everything I’ve ever wanted in a woman”.
“We were soulmates for years, but our friendship was only platonic,” he told our sister publication Drum in 2002.
Chester’s eyes filled with tears as he watched Mary, as he called her, walking down the aisle accompanied by Ryan, her son from a previous marriage, to the strains of Ave Maria at Villa Via Hotel in Gordon’s Bay where they wed.
He was deeply in love with Maria – up until his last breath, says his best friend, Rudolph de Wee.
Rudolph had known “Chessie” as he
was affectionately called, since they were five.
“We grew up together in Paarl East, in the flats, and met while playing in the street. After school we’d go to the rugby field at Die Kraal near his school and play.
“When we were about 10 years old, we’d finish our training and go get a dite [ food] at Debbie’s Corner. Chester always shared with me.”
Rugby was in Chester’s blood. His father, Wilfred (70), and uncle Adam both played.
“On the day Chester played his first game in the Paarl leagues, his father played his last,” Rudolph recalls.
“Chester was tackled so hard that day he wanted to cry but his father walked up to him and told him to finish the game.
“Chester was a very dedicated player and person. He always went the extra mile. For every shuttle run drill we did, he did three.”
He was thrilled to be selected to join the Rugby World Cup squad in 1995, becoming the first black player to do so.
“Colour wasn’t an issue for Chessie,” Rudolph says. “He knew he was good enough to play in any team.”
His excitement turned to disappointment when he had to withdraw from the team because of a knee injury.
“Chester wasn’t in a good space when he was replaced by Pieter Hendriks. But Bruce McLoughlin, the Springboks’ physiotherapist, told him he’d help get him back in the team.”
Chester worked hard and practised every day and when he returned to the squad he scored four tries against Samoa.
“He proved he was the best.”
CHESTER was born and raised in Paarl in the Western Cape. He started his career in 1988 with the Western Province league Craven Week team which also featured future Springbok Tinus Linee.
Chester was known in rugby circles as the Black Pearl because he was the first black Bok player in post-apartheid SA, but Rudolph says he was known in their hometown as “the Black Pearl of Paarl”.
“A squatter camp was named after him in the ’90s and Chester would often take
‘Chester was a very dedicated player and person’
Maria and the kids [there] to hand out food hampers and blankets, some of which he paid for out of his own pocket,” he says.
Despite his success, he never forgot his roots. “I remember we were in Hong Kong and we were speaking to each other in Afrikaans. A woman came up to us, tapped him on the shoulder and said how lovely it was to hear us speak the language.”
Chester’s international career spanned seven years, in which he played 27 Tests for the Boks, scoring 14 tries.
In 1994 he was named SA rugby player of the year and after retiring in 2000 he worked as a coach for the Sevens team, Super Rugby’s Cats and the Pumas.
Despite hanging up his boots, Chester regularly hit the gym. “He was as fit as can be. He trained every day,” says Rudolph, adding that a few months ago, Chester went for a regular checkup and was told he was in good health. So his sudden death comes as a shock.
“I was there at the hospital,” says Rudolph, recalling the day Chester died. “I thought he’d wake up. It’s still so unreal.”
But heart disease runs in the family. His sister is in hospital after suffering a heart attack a few weeks ago and his youngest brother, Wilmot, died a year shy of his 21st birthday while studying law at UWC, also due to a heart condition.
Their mom passed away a few years ago but Chester’s dad is holding down the fort. “He’s very calm and keeping it together for everyone.”
On his birthday on 8 August, Chester told friends at a braai he was excited about his 50th birthday next year. He said he wanted a big bash and to celebrate with family and friends during a three-day getaway on a wine farm.
“He still had lots to give,” Rudolph says. “He was a rare diamond with a heart of gold.”