A TRIBUTE TO OUR DEAR FRIEND, PETER SOLANKI

23rd April 2021

 Our families first met in Chingola, Northern Rhodesia, over sixty years ago, and we have been friends with the Solanki Family ever since.  Our parents were friends before we were!

My husband, Gerald and I, and my parents, Tom and Vera Guthrie, continued our friendship with Peter and Tara when both our families came to Australia in the 1970’s.

 Gerald’s parents, Ev and Freda Groom, were also close friends in Chingola, and Freda worked for ‘Mr. Solanki’ - no casual first names!- as Peter’s Dad was called by all, including the Mine Manager! Mr. Solanki was known for his generosity, fairness and kindness. 

 The Solanki’s were a highly respected family and had a chain of department stores, including one in our town.  It could best be described as a ‘community centre’!   It was a rite of passage for a young man to have his first suit tailored there, where young couples left their ‘wedding present list’ and bought their engagement and wedding rings (we did!) and where one had an ‘account’.   If you couldn’t afford your monthly payment, Mr. Solanki would generously allow you a couple of months grace until you were financial.  He was also a man who would loan people money if they ran into difficulties.

 So Peter came from an excellent family they had high hopes for him.  But he was a bit of a rebel.  As a young man, he was The Man about Town - women loved him!   He was incredibly good looking, and always stylishly dressed.  He wore sunglasses and drove the latest sports car, with his arm casually hanging over the door - but he was always a gentleman, with old fashioned manners. He also inherited his family traits of kindness, generosity and compassion.

 The beautiful and exotic Tara, however, won his undying love, and left a couple of broken hearts behind him. Shortly after they married, Gerald and I joined Peter and Tara for Sunday lunch with mutual friends. After a couple of glasses of wine, the women decided to have some fun, and took Tara to the bedroom where we removed her beautiful sari and dressed her in a very short mini skirt and high heels.  She was Vogue Model Material!  When she returned to the living room, Peter’s face was a picture. His jaw hit the floor in absolute astonishment as he spluttered and coughed and hurried to cover his wife’s shapely legs!

 Tara and Peter are the only friends who were present at both my parents 50th wedding anniversary AND Gerald and my 50th wedding anniversary. Who else could claim such a thing?

 Peter had a profound ability to listen with his heart as well as his ears. He made you feel like you were the only person in the room, that whatever it was you were saying was the most fascinating thing he’d ever heard.

 He loved deeply. Tara was his soulmate and his Goddess. He was a supremely proud father of his multi-talented children, and a doting grandfather.

 He was a humble man

and he lived his life with an unshakeable integrity.  He profoundly respected the important things in life - time  spent with, and a deep love for, family and friends, his culture, his spirituality, his health and he had a wondrous awe of nature.

 They say you can tell a lot about a person by the quality of their friends. It’s been our privilege and great honour to be considered their Friends - ‘Chosen Family’ even - people who have loved and laughed and celebrated and cried with us.

 You excelled and exceeded every dream your Mom and Dad had for you, Peter.  You lived your life well and you made a difference. 

 You truly left footprints on our hearts, Peter, darling man, and we will never EVER forget you.

 We are so grateful for the friendship we have shared over six decades.

 Our love and prayers and gratitude to Tara and all The Kids, and their large and loving families. We mourn with you and hold you close to our hearts.

 In Zambia we say ‘Hamba Gashle’.  It means ‘Go Well’.

Until We Meet Again.

❤️❤️❤️

 Condolences from some of Your Chingola Tribe: 

 Sandra, Gerald and Joshua Groom

Tom, Vera, Susan and Ian Guthrie

The Groom Family

Marian and Mike Cooney

The Krieger Family

The Cooney Family

The Symes Family