Maria A Brits

Mariëtta Brits (Maria Aletta Jooste) was born in Sutherland, Cape Province on November 15, 1947. She had a much older brother named Deon and an older sister named Talitha. The Jooste family later moved to Oudtshoorn where Mariëtta completed her school education. She then went to Stellenbosch University where she studied music with Organ as main instrument. She was an outstanding student and all her diplomas and degrees (B Mus, Hons B Mus and M Mus) were awarded “With Distinction”.

On December 19, 1969 she married Rudolf (Dolf) Brits and we then spent a year in Berlin, Germany where Mariëtta studied organ with Karl Hochreiter and Music Theory with the German composer, Ernst Pepping, both regarded as influential figures in classical music.

In 1973 we settled in Pretoria and Mariëtta was appointed senior lecturer at the University of Pretoria, teaching Organ, Music Theory and History of Music.

She was once asked to play the organ during a state banquet for the South African President. When learning that the guests would be dining during the music, she refused to play, because “when I play the organ, people should listen to the music, not eat”. This illustrates her respect for the art of music making.

In the years we lived in Pretoria, Mariëtta and I raised our three children, Roelof, Marius and Janneke. She was a dedicated mother and she gave endless hours of her time to help each of her children learn to play at least one musical instrument, as well as supporting all the other endeavors they had outside school. Her days as a mother to three children were hectic. One afternoon, after returning home from teaching, she heard a commotion outside the bathroom door - when she eventually opened the door, Roelof was there, also our dog, our cat and even one of our plucky chickens, all demanding immediate attention!

We emigrated to Columbus in October 2001. Mariëtta decided to say farewell to teaching and was employed at the Technical Services Department at Worthington Libraries, where she impressed with her work ethic.

After retiring on May 31 2019, we carried out Mariëtta’s dream and toured the States with our Airstream and Ford F-150. On Sundays we stayed in the Airstream, but on the other six days we travelled, hiked, biked and used our inflatable kayak wherever possible.

My children and I have always I felt that everyone who met her, or who were fortunate to become longstanding friends with her, experienced that she was compassionate, thoughtful and genuinely interested in others. She had a wonderful sense of humor, and she brought generosity with her at all times.

Mariëtta was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March and died on July 17.

As a family, we loved her with all our hearts. Her memory will stay with us, for as long as we live.