Dennis Nathan Obituary, Killarney International Raceway Mourns Dennis Nathan Death – Death Cause
Dennis Nathan Obituary, Death – After sustaining severe burns in a workshop accident on Friday, March 17, local Mini expert, engine rebuilder, and industry mainstay Dennis Nathan, father of well-known Mini and later VW Golf GTi racer Graeme Nathan, has passed suddenly. We learned this news with great regret over the weekend.
Dennis had been a part of the Killarney family for a very long time. He was known as the “go-to guy” for information regarding the construction, repair, and tuning of Mini engines, in addition to a wide range of other British motors. The paddock has been left with a significant void after his death. Dennis started his career in the automotive industry as an apprentice mechanic at Rodrick & Botha in Bloemfontein. He was trained by Stuart White, the grandfather of Stuart White who currently holds the ultimate lap record at Killarney. Dennis is originally from Bloemfontein in the Free State, where he was born on January 26, 1944.
Dennis worked for many years at Leyland in South Africa, which sent him to Britain to learn about Minis, which became a lifetime love of his. After a stint at Castrol, which included a memorable tour of the Jordan F1 engine facility, Dennis worked for many years at Leyland in South Africa. In recent years, Dennis had a workshop here in Killarney, and he was always willing to help with anything engine-related, especially British engines. He was very knowledgeable about British engines. Among the many projects that he worked on, one of them was the restoration of an Austin-Healey 3000 that belonged to Luis Fernandes of Schuurman Lasercut.
The picture depicts a very satisfied Dennis on the day that they dragged the engine out of the Healey to begin rebuilding it. And that is how we will remember Dennis Nathan, as a man who was good at what he did because he enjoyed it. That is how we will remember Dennis Nathan. During this trying time, we want his children Graeme, Darren, and Candice to know that our thoughts and prayers are with them.
