One of the best-known faces at Solly’s Discount World in Louis Trichardt and a beloved member of the local community for the past 24 years, Jagadishandra Joshi (68), died last Wednesday (19/10).

Joshi, as he was commonly known, was born in Durban in 1943. He was the first born and had six sisters. At the age of 14, his father died and from a very young age he had to start looking after his mother and his sisters.

It was this same love and compassion for his family and friends that caused him to relocate to what is now known as Limpopo. His one sister got married and moved with her husband to Louis Trichardt. When her husband died in 1987, Joshi offered to move to this northern part of the country to help take care of her.

When he arrived in Louis Trichardt, he joined Solly’s Discount World and for the past 24 years customers from all over have grown accustomed to this soft-spoken man. “We are totally devastated,” was Solly Noor’s response this week. “We not only lost a good and loyal worker, but also a dear friend. He was a part of our close family,” he said.

At the time of his death Joshi was a group manager at the Solly’s Group.

A month ago, Joshi fulfilled a life-long dream by travelling to India on pilgrimage. He also visited two of his sisters who stay in India. When he returned to South Africa last week, he stayed over with his son in Pretoria for a day. Last Wednesday he went to lie down for a while and never woke up.

Apart from his six sisters, he leaves behind his wife, Ansuya, his son Divesh and his 98-year-old mother, Lalita. A funeral service was held last Friday in Johannesburg.