Church builder’s daughter visits Aberdeen

Aberdeen was the destination recently for three tourists who had a particularly personal reason to visit the town. Moira Bürisch (née Ablett), her son Roland and his wife Nola, were visiting from Johannesburg, and enjoyed very much visiting the wallhangings in the NGK hall, and the highlight of their visit, the church itself.

Bürisch’s father Fred and grandfather James had been involved in many building projects in the town, including the Aberdeen Hotel, and many houses and farms. The project of which they had been most proud however was the church.

Bürisch herself was born in Aberdeen in 1932, living in a house on the site of what is now the restaurant Moertoe. She remembers the house being very big, with a large wide verandah, big enough to host a wedding reception! The house later burnt down. Bürisch moved to Port Elizabeth with her family when she was six, after starting school in Aberdeen, and then lived for over fifty years in Harare.

Moira Bürish with her son and daughter-in-law admire the Biblical panels in the NGK hall