In Loving Memory of Elsa Wiehman by Jacqui Stewart
Elsa joined COHSASA in 1997, during the company’s early years. However, she left in 2005 to be closer to home for her son’s schooling. She rejoined on April 1, 2010, and recently celebrated her 14th year with the organisation.
After so many years of hard work and diligent attention to detail, the loss of Elsa leaves a big gap in our institutional memory. The loss will be felt by all her colleagues, present and past who enjoyed her cheerful, sometimes hair-raisingly truthful personality and her mischievous sense of humour.
Elsa had many great qualities: she was courteous and friendly when dealing with our clients and was always quick to respond to any queries. As one client told us, “Elsa was a joy to work with, she never seemed to forget small details and was unfailingly kind”.
She helped so many people with no thought of a reward and gave selflessly to our organisation over many years.
Elsa had tenacity and a dogged sense of perseverance that she used to ensure that all payments were collected. Her attention to detail ensured the accounts were always meticulously kept.
Although her home language was Afrikaans, Elsa’s penchant for meticulous observation meant that she always found any errors in complicated correspondence in English.
Elsa was a truly remarkable person and a dedicated member of the COHSASA team. Her contributions and the positive impact she had on her colleagues and clients will be remembered.
In all her engagements with peers, clients, suppliers and colleagues she always made time to check, correct and ensure accuracy with a knife-sharp precision. We will miss her smile; we will miss her chuckle, and we will miss her koeksisters. We will miss her.