One of Nelson Mandela Bay’s best-known faces — scion of a renowned retail family and a stalwart of the metro’s running, hiking, lifesaving, church and tourism fraternities — has died.
Peter Giddy, 70, catered to overseas clients through his highly successful Peter Giddy Guided Tours and as the market dried up with the Covid-19 lockdowns he began hosting trails in and around the metro, designed to get people from different communities into nature.
When in town, he typically parked his grey Kombi at Hobie Beach and if you were with him for a walk or jog you had to be ready for constant stoppages so passersby could say hello.
The son of Allen Giddy, whose Giddy’s Furniture Stores were based in North End and eventually became a household name and flagship example — in the period 1950-1980 — of blue-chip homegrown business in old Port Elizabeth.
As unassuming as he was popular, Giddy was the driving force behind the establishment of Park Run in the Bay and recently won a gold medal at the SA Triathlon Championships.
Giddy’s eldest daughter, Niki Steenkamp, said her father had died at home in Mill Park late on Monday night.
“He had just got back from one Namaqualand tour and was due to leave in the next day or so for another one.
“At a certain point, he got out of bed to make tea and then collapsed.
“We think it was a blood clot. He was perfectly fine until then.”
She said her father had been a vital force in her family and for many others, too.
“He was very involved in the Methodist Church in Walmer and in years past in lifesaving and in training the nippers.
“He was a brilliant storyteller, a natural people person and the absolute hero of his 11 grandchildren.
“He was always interested and he made you feel so special.”
Long-time friend, former Nelson Mandela Bay municipal manager Graham Richards, said Giddy was a man of many parts.
“He was a businessman, an archetypal family man, a sportsman and a tourist trail guide but none of those things tells the full story.
“He was never a headline-grabber but he got things done and he touched an enormous number of people across different spheres of life.”
He said Giddy was a lifelong member of the Achilles Running Club and had held a Comrades green number for having completed at least 10 of SA’s premier ultra-marathon.
Richards said while Giddy had always been primarily a runner, he had taken the opportunity to enter the recent SA Triathlon Championships in Bloemfontein.
“He ended up coming first in the 70-plus category and winning a gold medal.
“It said everything about Peter and the way he just got things done.”
He said after retiring from the furniture retail industry, Giddy launched himself into the tour guide industry.
“He completed a training course, established contacts overseas and started taking people all over the place.
“Then during lockdown, with no overseas trade, through word of mouth he started taking people out on local walks.
“He was always organising some sort of adventure.
“His youngest daughter is Ally, who he and his wife Barbara adopted, and with whom he had a wonderful relationship.
“She used to run with him.
“Everyone knew him when he walked along the beachfront and he never passed anyone without a positive word.
“His death will be a real loss to all sorts of people.”
Another long-time friend and running partner, urban planning activist Ron Pask, said he had received a huge shock when Steenkamp phoned to tell him of her father’s passing.
“What a buddy he was.
“He was an unassuming guy with massive communication skills.”
Oceanographer and veteran runner Eckart Schumann said he and his wife, Strelza, had enjoyed several tours and trails with Giddy.
“He was knowledgeable but always happy to pick up on new things.
“With his local trails, he got couch potatoes of all colours and ages out there and they absolutely loved it.”
Giddy leaves behind his wife, Barbara, four daughters and grandchildren in SA, Israel and New Zealand.
He lost his son, Michael, to cancer eight years ago. He also leaves behind his brother, Patrick.
HeraldLIVE
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