True to his “unconventional and larger than life” persona that earned him fans and friends across the globe, Langebaan’s Froggy will not have a conventional funeral. Instead, family and friends from near and far can attend an official Life Celebration ceremony and wake to be held on 28 September at 12:00 at the Blue Bay Lodge in Saldanha Bay.
“It was Froggy’s wish not to have a conventional funeral. A private cremation ceremony will be held for family and close friends who have already been invited. We deliberately chose the above date for the Life Celebration ceremony to give family and friends from abroad the opportunity to also attend it. Froggy traveled extensively and had friends all over the world.”
Speaking is Anene Van Huyssteen, his trainee turned full-time chef and right hand at Froggy’s Restaurant for 13 years and the daughter he never had. Anene was at the scene of the fatal accident near Saldanha Steel within half an hour and has since been taking charge of all arrangements despite being heart broken and pregnant with her third child.
Residents from Langebaan and surrounds were stunned last week by the news of the accident that claimed Froggy’s life. Few people knew his impressive family names – Hans-Joachim Fritz Hermann Mario Ullrich (70).
According to Anene, Froggy got the nickname already in his primary school years when he played the part of the Frog Prince in a school concert. The name stuck throughout his life – probably because it is so much easier to remember than his lengthy family name and it also earned him an impressive collection of ornamental frogs through the years.
The accident happened last Thursday around 12:00 when Froggy’s blue BMW collided almost head-on with a Lafarge cement truck near the Portnet train bridge on the Langebaan/Saldanha road. Police and forensic experts are still investigating the cause of the accident and the results of a standard procedural autopsy is not available yet.
The truck driver, Mr Nicholaas Ross (38), was luckily only slightly injured and receiving trauma counselling when we spoke to him on Friday. He told weskusonTheline that he was heading towards Langebaan and still gaining speed when he saw the blue BMW approaching from the opposite direction. It was only when the car was almost next to him that it suddenly swerved into his lane and hit the truck from the right. “It happened within seconds. I must have hit the steering wheel, because my chest was hurting, but fortunately no ribs were broken,” he said. He was still in shock and had no idea why the car suddenly changed lanes.
Froggy had no blood relatives in South Africa. His ex-wife lives in London and they never had kids. Anene and her family are probably the closest family he had during the last years of his life.
“Froggy used to have an Indian Restaurant called Tandoori in Sea Point. In 2000 he came to Langebaan and started Froggy’s Restaurant. It has always been “different and unconventional” and people loved it. I started working for him as a mere waitress in 2001. He trained and taught me according to his hand and eventually I took over as internationally qualified chef and ran the place with him until we decided to close the restaurant in 2014,” Anene said.
“We were extremely close. I was the daughter he never had and he was like a beloved grandfather to my kids. He trusted me with his will and all personal affairs. That is why I have to stay strong now to see to his last affairs although I am heart broken and 24 weeks pregnant. My family and I will miss him terribly,” Anene said.
Friends and interested parties who want to know more about the Life Celebration ceremony can contact Anene at 084 628 3257.
PHOTOS: From top: Anene and Froggy a few years back at Froggy’s Restaurant; The inviting entrance to the popular Froggy’s Restaurant; Froggy celebrating life – the way people used to know him; Arlene and Froggy shortly after she received her International Chef Diploma.
