True to his calling as a man of the cloth and the erstwhile Dean of the African Catholic Church Holy Trinity diocese, the late Reverend Maditse Solomon Kgapola, was honored with a solemn requiem mass in a funeral ceremony held on Saturday 2 February 2019 at the St Francis African Catholic Church in Temba, Hammanskraal.
Dean Kgapola’s health deteriorated in the last two weeks of January 2019 after he collapsed whilst doing gardening and was taken to Jubilee Hospital on a Sunday 20 January 2019 for medical check-ups.
He passed on after experiencing a fatal collapsed at home and passed away in the arms of his youngest daughter, Lerato Kgapola, on Friday 25 January 2019.
As an acclaimed founder member of the St Francis African Church denomination in Temba, his funeral service was punctuated by song and prayer unique to the African and Black Theology spiritual culture synonymous with the church.
Born on 6 January 1941 in the rural village of Lebalangwe in the North West Province, Dean Kgapola was the second son of the late Obed and Oletta Kgapola whose family was one of the early settlers of Temba in the 1940`s. His father Obed Kgapola was a well-known shoemaker and successful business man in the Temba Community during his lifetime.
In his own illustrious lifetime spanning from 1941 to 2019, Dean Kgapola made an indelible mark on his family, friends and community. After completing his Junior Certificate (JC) at Ratshepo High School, he worked for several companies to make a living until he acceded into priesthood and was instrumental in the establishment of the St Francis African Catholic Church branch in Temba.
During the second part of the funeral services held at Sebothoma Hall in Unit D, his family, friends, community and church members paid a moving tribute to a brother, father, grandfather, friend, neighbor, fellow Christian and community builder that Dean Kgapola was to those who knew him and loved him for the gentle, caring and loving soul that he was.
A neighbor, Bonang Majoko, described him as a man of great humility and integrity who cared and gave refuge to many in the community. A family friend, Kelly Chauke said this in his accolade: “I am because of him and I owe my success to him because of his boundless kindness and generosity. He was humble, principled and a stern disciplinarian to his children”.
It was the tributes from his surviving children and his grandchildren that were the most moving, as they described “Daddy Solly” or “Yeyi” or simply “Lo”, as the most loving, caring and gentle father they will ever know. A superhero of a father who brought them up as a single-parent for 12 years after the death of their mother Amanda Mercy Kgapola in December 2007.
As if it was an act of premonition, the family hosted his 78th birthday on 6 January 2019 at his home in S Block in Temba. And on 12 January 2019 a family reunion prayer was held in his ancestral village in Lebalangwe, unknowingly giving them a time to say goodbye.
Dean Kgapola is survived by his children, Juliet Mandu Sera, Walter Kgapola and Lerato Kgapola. His first born son, Romeo Kgapola, passed on tragically in a car accident in 2002.
Dean Kgapola was laid to rest at the old Temba Cemetery, joining his loving wife in the same grave.
May his soul rest in eternal peace, a son of the soil who has run his race well and fought a good fight.
