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writing her life story but, unfortunately, her ghost-writer died before this could happen.
Cato died on 11 August 1989 aged 96. (Fig. 3.21).

Louis Gerardus Ladan 1908 – 1998

Very little is known about Louis jnr. He was born in Kalk Bay, 15 years after his sister
Cato – and was 8 years older than Eddie. (Figs. 3.22 & 3.23).

During his 20s he was about to marry but the engagement was broken off when it was

discovered that he was Roman Catholic, but they remained friends. He later married Doris

Earley from Behr Road but there were no children. (Fig. 3.24). After leaving school he
worked at Withinshaws for five years doing woodwork, and for the next five years for his

father as a mechanic. Later he joined Murray and Stewart and was involved in contracts

around South Africa before settling in Plumstead, where the couple lived for many years.
He then joined Empire Steel and was also a director of Lydia Building Construction.

He and Eddie never saw eye to eye and although Louis kept in touch with his parents, and

later with their old neighbours the Liddells, he had little interest in Eddie in later life and in
Eddie’s last years. During the last part of his life the friendship with his first love was

rekindled - Louis was now a widower and she a widow – and they became companions

again to one another. Louis died on 23 July 1998 at 90 years of age.

Eduard Louis Ladan 1916 – 1992

One of the first hurdles to overcome when trying to record the ‘real’ Eddie Ladan is - when
was he born? How old was he at different milestones of his life? It is perhaps typical of the

man that even the simple fact of his date of birth was deliberately obscured. Numerous

newspaper reports and interviews imply he was born in 1918 or even 1920. The only