As told by his son, Norman Barron, first his apprentice and then his partner.
Aubrey Barron first worked as a pharmacist in Brakpan in the 1930s. He found that he preferred Cape Town and bought a small pharmacy in Bellville called Kidson's Pharmacy. He never changed the name and to this day his children do not know who Kidson was.
In 1940, shortly after his marriage to Avis, they went to live in Bellville, at first in a two-roomed flat behind the pharmacy before moving to a house in 3rd Avenue in 1942 when the first of their four sons was born. In 1958 they bought their forever home in 9th Avenue, where they lived until his untimely death in 1988.
Kidson's became an institution in Bellville and it was a familiar sight to see the delivery 'boy'on his bicycle riding up to a customer’s house with the order of medicine accompanied by a loaf of bread and newspaper picked up on the way. Aubrey had a good relationship with the other healthcare professionals in Bellville. In particular he had an excellent association with Dr. Leslie Levy and Dr. Donny Loon who opened the first private medical centre in the Northern Suburbs, the Jan S. Marais Clinic, which was situated just around the corner from Kidson's. Aubrey became renowned for his staunch support of the Bellville Shul in the flourishing Jewish community.
He was an ardent member of the King David Golf Club in Matroosfontein near the airport and was for many years editor of the club magazine King David Kaskenades.
He was lauded for his charitable work with the Athlone School for the Blind and the Sunshine Home for children suffering from TB and was a faithful member of Rotary.
Generous, kind-hearted and compassionate, no-one in need was turned away and he was often regarded as the fount of medical knowledge by the common folk who looked to him to cure all ailments.
He was adept at making up ointments and concoctions by hand and passed on this arcane knowledge to his son, Norman, who joined him in the business in 1969 before making Aliyah with his family in 1981.
Aubrey and Avis spent many holidays in Israel, and nothing delighted Aubrey more than
sitting in his son’s dispensary in Kfar Saba…fulfilling his own early dream of living in Israel.