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The Otago Boys' High School Foundation
PO Box 11,
Dunedin, New Zealand
Tel +64 3 477 2546
Fax +64 3 477 5468
August newsletter –
Bill Heenan – 1908-2009
* The Foundation reports with sadness the passing of Otago Boys’ most senior known living Old Boy.
Bill (William Robert Edward) Heenan (1923-24), died in Christchurch on Saturday, 18th July just six weeks short of his 101st birthday and we send our condolences to his family.
An avid reader of the Foundation’s monthly newsletter, Bill was a retired Southland sheep farmer who was awarded a QSM for his services to the community having chaired the Southland Hospital Board for more than a decade. His two brothers – Archibald Heenan (1925) and Ralph Heenan (1929) – also attended Otago Boys’ as did his son-in-law Don Goodall (1951-52).
Bill was born (11 September 1908) in the same decade as Richard Pearse and the Wright Brothers recorded man’s first powered flights and just a few years after the invention of radio. He was a teenager before television’s first broadcast and was a grown man before the first computer calculated its initial equation. He was in his late-40s beforethe Russians raced into orbit and had already celebrated his 60th birthday before man walked on the moon. No mobile ‘phones, Play Stations or iPods for Bill!
The Foundation’s records show the mantle of our oldest known living Old Boy now rests with John Mackie, OBE (1924-28), who resides in Nelson and who will celebrate his 99th birthday in early-September.
John, known by many as Captain Jack, is the founder of the national School of Surveying at Otago University.
Registrations for 2013 sesquicentennial
* The number of Old Boys registering their interest in attending the 150th celebrations in August 2013 continues to grow.
Old Boys from as far back as the 1930s have noted their intention to be present with registrations then spread through the decades and from alumni throughout the world.
If you wish to note your interest in being involved, please do so through an email to the Foundation (info@obhsfoundation.co.nz) or a telephone call (+64 3/4778977), the message to include your full name and years of attendance.
The Foundation is already working with airlines to ensure competitive domestic and international travel packages are made available, several venues – including the Lion Foundation Arena and the new Otago Stadium – have been booked, Speights Brewery will be producing a special drop for the celebrations (with this to be on offer at all functions as well as made available for purchase as a momento of the weekend), a book will be published , with this to include the history of the school along with the names of each and every boy and staff member at Otago Boys from 1863 to 2013, and all manner of activity is planned for the four-day gathering.
This Reunion will be the biggest ever seen in the city.
Foundation members
* Since the July newsletter, the following Old Boys and connections with the school have made pledges or donations and have been registered as Members of the Foundation –
Foundation’s new chairman
* The Foundation’s fourth Annual General Meeting was held yesterday with the highlights being the reporting of the surge in membership numbers (up 32% to 360) and the resulting increase in surplus revenue (up from $94,228 to $142,548), the growing number of Old Boys ‘found’ – with 7,500 now on the Foundation’s newsletter database, from a starting point of just 500, and the success of the website with 12,000 to 14,000 unique visits per month now recorded.
A new Chairman was also elected along with a new member of the Board of Management.
Greg Strang (1983-87) stood down from the Chair after two years in the role with Lyndon Hope (1984-88) elected to take his place.
Lyndon was born in Dunedin and was educated at St Clair Primary and Macandrew Intermediate before attending Otago Boys’. Lyndon has always lived here in Dunedin apart from a year in Christchurch in 1995. He is a second generation family member to attend Otago Boys’ along with many other family members.
After following a career in hospitality, Lyndon began fulltime with Hope & Sons in 1996 and completed his funeral directing qualifications in Wellington in 1999. He is one of the fourth generation of the Hope family to own and manage the business, and he has been a company director since 1999.
As well as his role as a funeral director with the company Lyndon is the Chairman of the Funeral Director’s Association of New Zealand (FDANZ) Public Relations Committee and also chairs the Otago & Southland District of the FDANZ. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees at Silverstream (South) Primary School in Mosgiel, and of the Dunedin Rotary Club.
Lyndon and his wife Liz currently live in Mosgiel where they are raising their two boys Josh (8) and Sam (6). He is a keen golfer playing off a modest handicap when time permits and enjoys watching rugby - especially that played by his sons.
And the Foundation is also pleased to report the election of Mike Christie (1982-86) to the Board of Management.
Mike has recently returned with his family to Dunedin for a second time, following stints working for Cadbury Ltd in Melbourne and most recently Singapore.
After leaving school, Mike completed a B.com at Otago University before joining Cadbury Confectionery in 1991 as a graduate member of the sales force. He then moved into a Dunedin Supply Chain role working for another old boy, Neville Horne (1954-56) in 1992, and subsequently held a number of different Supply Chain roles in Dunedin.
In 1998, Mike and his wife Georgie moved to Melbourne where Mike worked for Cadbury Australia as well as Schweppes Cottee’s for 3½ years ending up as Australia New Zealand Procurement Manager for the combined Cadbury Schweppes business. For personal reasons the family returned to Dunedin in 2002 with Mike taking up his former role of New Zealand Procurement Manager as well as undertaking a technical procurement development role for Cadbury throughout Asia. This culminated in a move to Singapore in 2005, when Cadbury set up a new regional head office, where amongst a variety of roles, Mike became responsible for managing the Cadbury Schweppes Asia Pacific procurement team.
Following an internal restructure of the Asia Pacific business in late 2008, Mike and family, which had grown to include 2 daughters, returned to Dunedin for a second time, with Mike securing a full time role at the Cadbury Dunedin manufacturing operation.
Mike is looking forward to playing the odd game of cricket again for the Cavaliers, as well as getting back to being a more frequent golfer, as it was an expensive past time to play on a regular basis in Singapore.
Since returning from Singapore, Mike has bumped into a number of former school colleagues and is looking forward to reconnecting with those who are still based in Dunedin or around Otago.
We welcome both Lyndon and Mike to their new roles.
Reading volunteers needed
* Volunteers are needed to help with the continued success of the school’s Community Reading Programme which has been operating for the past six years.
Usually one hour a week is needed with volunteers choosing a day that suits them where they will work with three boys (either Year 9 or Year 10) for approximately 20 minutes each. The boys involved have been identified with reading and learning difficulties.
Reading material is provided which comprises a reading and comprehension work book with the aim being to not only to improve reading and comprehension skills but social skills as well.
Literacy Co-ordinator Michelle Brown says the boys look to their volunteers as mentors and often build close relationships with them.
She tells the story of a Year 10 student who came to Otago Boys’ from the North Island last year and who had some major behavioural problems. He was placed with one of the male volunteers and they have been working together ever since. Michelle reports the student looks forward to his session each week and he has also just passed his Learners Licence with the help of his volunteer.She says his behaviour has improved, he is regarded as a fine young man and regards this as a great success story to share.
If you have any questions about the programme or can spare an hour a week to help make a difference, please contact Michelle at the school – 4775527 or through her email Michelle.Brown@obhs.school.nz
Website advertising
* The Foundation acknowledges the support it receives from a number of advertising partners on its website.
In recent weeks the Hawkdun Lodge (Ranfurly), Your Business Team, SBS and the Brothers Hotel have renewed their initial annual contracts – and their products, services and/or hospitality can be viewed through their banners on pages seen on the Foundation’s site and also through the dedicated Business Directory.
Chatsford in Mosgiel renewed its annual commitment earlier in the year and in recent days Southern Colour Print has also joined the growing number of advertisers seen on the site.
We would urge you to click through to our advertisers’ own websites and, where appropriate, support them.
Further information about the benefits and costs associated with taking up a partnership with the Foundation’s website can be ascertained by contacting the Foundation’s office – 03/4778977, info@obhsfoundation.co.nz
In Profile
* Dr John Troughton, M Ag Sc, PhD, DSc, FRSNZ (1952-56) has walked an interesting pathway since leaving Dunedin.
A New Zealand National Research Fellow (1966-69), Carnegie Fellow (1973), Eisenhower Fellow (1984) and Member of Australian National University Council (1968-69), John is currently a director of Guntonia Investments, Business Associates Networks, HomeNet Pty Ltd and The Management Practice.
Based in Sydney, John specialises in design and implementation of Performance and Conformance Management Systems that deliver value to all constituents in the enterprise, and assure its competitive performance.
These systems allow directors, managers, suppliers and staff of small and large companies to generate future value as determined by the stakeholders. This is achieved by a clear statement of purpose, integrated through planning, people, processes and technology, into a company-wide system, that of itself adds value to the company. Measures of personnel capability, performance and accountability are built into the systems.
Interest in the ‘Fundamentals of Business Management’ started as a result of a project investigating the factors influencing the transfer of knowledge to businesses with less than 200 staff. A study was made comprising visits to 200 businesses and associated surveys to investigate the needs of business. The primary cause of difficulties in these businesses was the inability to access, cost effectively, the professional services that could not be justified to maintain in-house capability. This related primarily to technology, HR and business management advice. The average small business manager cannot be expected to be an "expert in all areas" but does not have the financial resources to source external advice.
As a result John developed the Action Management System.
Through research at the DSIR’s Physics and Engineering Laboratory in New Zealand and through exposure to a variety of international projects John developed a professional background in food processing, agriculture, horticulture, biotechnology, biophysics and ecology.
His training was at Canterbury University, the Australian National University and Stanford University in the United States. He has produced over a 100 papers and books, and lectured and consulted internationally in fields as diverse as energy, biology, information technology and business management. Corporate management experience has been gained in both public and private institutions such as the DSIR NZ, Goodman Fielder Wattie, and as a director of eight companies in the food (fresh and processed), information technology, management and high technology sectors.
These companies have been spread through New Zealand, Australia, Asia and the United States and have involved production and marketing for both domestic and export markets.
Over a quarter of a century, John has developed expertise in Conformance and Performance Management Systems. Initially this was as a lecturer at the New Zealand Institute of Management College (1975-85). New techniques that have been developed relate to the management of complex systems, such as integrating international markets, logistics, processing and production systems, integrating technology, people and processes. This has been applied initially to the dairy, meat and kiwifruit industries and subsequently to the mining, manufacturing and service sectors. The Value Engine is the most recent development.
John’s consultancy expertise has been utilised by domestic and international companies in Australia and Asia, that work also seeing him involved with the United Nations, PA Management Consulting Group, Drake International and as an Independent consultant.
Projects have involved public – the likes of New South Wales Cabinet Office, Malaysian Government, Public Trustee (NSW) and Sydney Water; listed - BHP-Biliton, Bankers Trust, Bank of Queensland, Telstra, CIG; and a number of non-listed companies.
Away from the boardroom, in his younger days John was a gifted hockey player, representing Otago and New Zealand Universities through the late 1950s.
Congratulations
* Congratulations to Isaac Officer (year 12) who qualified for the New Zealand fencing team for the second year in a row.
Isaac competed in the Australian cadet (under 17) championships in Brisbane in the July school holidays and was a member of the New Zealand B team.
Old Boys’ Society
* The Old Boys’ Society will host a lunch for Old Boys and their connections at the Savoy in Dunedin on Wednesday, 26th August with the guest speaker being Guy Hedderwick, the commercial manager of the Otago Stadium Trust.
Guy will outline the stadium’s design, construction progress, the experience spectators will enjoy at the new venue, the multi-purpose advantages and the seating packages on offer.
The cost for the lunch is $25, payable at the door, with a noon for 12.30p.m. start.
Please confirm numbers attending through an email to Old Boys’ Society President Norcombe Barker – nork@larnachcastle.co.nz
Winter interschool results
* Results from the last winter interschools are –
vs Waitaki Boys’, contested in Dunedin:
Golf – gross: Otago Boys’ 472, Waitaki Boys’ 529
nett: Otago Boys’ 440, Waitaki Boys’ 458
Trapshooting – Otago Boys’ 267, Waitaki Boys’ 230
Debating – junior: Otago Boys’ 174, Waitaki 169
senior: Otago Boys’ 176, Waitaki 170
Chess – Otago Boys’ 7, Waitaki Boys’ 1
Squash – Otago Boys’ 4, Waitaki Boys’ 0
Football – juniors: Otago Boys’ 6, Waitaki Boys’ 0
seniors: Otago Boys’ 9, Waitaki Boys’ 1
Basketball – juniors: Waitaki Boys’ 76, Otago Boys’ 69
1sts: Otago Boys’ 93, Waitaki Boys’ 58
Rugby – 2nd XV: Otago Boys’ 48, Waitaki Boys’ 0
1st XV: Otago Boys’ 22, Waitaki Boys’ 12
Overall – Otago Boys 12, Waitaki Boys’ 1
vs Christchurch Boys’ in Dunedin:
Golf Otago Boys’ 6, Christchurch Boys’ 0
Trapshooting Christchurch Boys’ 264, Otago Boys’ 263
Debating A win to Christchurch Boys’
Badminton Otago Boys’ 6, Christchurch Boys’ 0
Squash Christchurch Boys’ 4, Otago Boys’ 1
Hockey Christchurch Boys’ 3, Otago Boys’ 2
Football Christchurch Boys 3, Otago Boys’ 0
Basketball Otago Boys’ 106, Christchurch Boys’ 72
2nd XV rugby Christchurch Boys’ 27, Otago Boys’ 0
1st XV rugby Otago Boys’ 13, Christchurch Boys’ 5
Overall Christchurch Boys’ 6, Otago Boys’ 4
Old Boys in the news
* Former Dunedin theologian, Emeritus Prof Lloyd Geering (1931-35) is a regular visitor to the city and recently enjoyed catching up with old friends while giving a talk at the University Club.
Now 91, Lloyd spoke to a group of 104 on the topic ‘Iran: friend or foe’ during which he tried ‘‘to help people understand what life in Iran was like from within’’.
Having made his third visit to the country three months ago, he wanted to dispel common perceptions of Iran as being a danger. The media in the United States and Israel was largely to blame for the country’s reputation, he believed.
While the regime itself was anti-western, the people were not, he said.
‘‘They have a view of the world not unlike ourselves.’’
Based in Wellington, Lloyd remains involved in academia as he often acted as the ‘‘interface’’ between universities and the public through open lectures.
His Otago Boys’ High School form mate and former pharmacology professor, Emeritus Prof Fred Fastier (1932-36), who will be 90 next year, was at the meeting. He was keeping himself busy by writing books and making submissions to select committees.
He recalled five other pupils from their form who held university chairs, but both men concluded they were the only surviving ones.
‘‘Every time we meet we think it must be for about the last time,’’ Fred noted.
* Arch Jelley (1936-40) is best known as coach of legendary New Zealand middle distance runner John Walker, and that association was recognised in Wellington recently.
A life membership of Athletics New Zealand for Sir John came as a bolt from the blue, with the honour having been mooted by his former coach who himself received a merit award at the same gathering in the capital.
Walker was humbled by the award, noting that to be “recognised by your peers is probably the pinnacle of anyone’s career.’’
‘‘You don’t go into the sport for the accolades; you do it to enjoy it. But to be honoured by all the Athletics New Zealand fraternity is a great honour because I’ve been amongst these people all my life.’’
Walker then paid tribute to Arch, with whom he has had a close relationship since he was a teenager.
They first met at a harriers meeting in Auckland when Walker was 17. Arch later told him he was going to be in the same league as triple Olympic Games gold medallist Peter Snell, and that he would one day break 3min 50sec for the mile.
John Walker became the first person to do exactly that in 1975, setting the world record of 3min 49.4sec at Gothenburg, in Sweden. In an 18-year track career, he also won gold over 1500m at the 1976 Montreal Olympics and was the first person to run more than 100 sub-4min miles.
‘‘I mean, I hadn’t even broken anything . . . and then he said one day I would emulate Peter Snell’s record of winning a gold medal. That’s a pretty bold statement when you’re a young kid,’’ Walker said on Friday.
He said he didn’t believe Arch at the time and said many other talented young athletes probably had a similar attitude when told of their potential. He said it was important to get as many young people as possible to participate in sport through clubs and he himself is working to achieve that.
Arch was a fine runner himself before turning to coaching, representing Otago, Wellington and W.C.N.I. centres in national cross country events for a decade from 1946. He was once the Wellington six mile and W.C.N.I. three mile champion. Having served in WWII as a sub. Lieutenant (submarines), Arch became a school teacher, rising to the ranks a headmaster.
He was awarded OBE for Services to Sport, coached two NZ Olympic Games' teams, two New Zealand World track and field championship teams and one Commonwelath Games’ team.
Arch lives in retirement in Auckland.
* If the folk of Oamaru look good when they smile, it may have something to do with Ken Scott (1950-53).
For the past 50 years, Ken, a dental technician, has been making and fitting dentures since arriving in Oamaru as a 22-year-old, fresh from the Otago University Dental School, and buying a dental laboratory.
In that time, patients’ views on dentures had changed dramatically.
When Ken first started practising, people had at least one denture by the age of 27 on average.
‘‘Now, that is a lot, lot older,’’ he said, ‘‘because of major improvements in dental care and the aesthetic value of keeping teeth for longer.’’
When he first started as a dental technician, people came for ‘‘false teeth’’. Patients did not see their dentures until they were given them by the dentist. Then, it took quite a few weeks to make and fit dentures. Now, it can take just a day or two.
People did not want just ‘‘false teeth’’; they also wanted them to be atheistically pleasing and appear natural. That had been achieved with major improvements in techniques and materials over the past half century allowing technicians to create dentures that looked like the teeth that had been removed.
The cost had also fallen. When Ken first started, a set of dentures cost the equivalent of two and a-half weeks’ wages. Now, it was about one and a-half weeks’ wages.
Part of his role is replacing dentures because of wear and changes in people’s mouths or when dentures are lost.
He recalled one Christmas when he had three patients wanting replacements — one set lost at sea during a fishing trip and two sets lost while swimming. There was also sometimes a demand for replacements after Christmas celebrations, he said.
Ken was born in Ranfurly and completed five years’ training at the dental school before starting practice in Oamaru on July 1, 1959. He plans to continue his practice, along with taking the same active role in the community he has in the past.
Asked about retirement, he said he hadn’t really thought about it.
‘‘I’m fit and healthy and plan to keep going as long as I can,’’ he said.
2003 1st XV – where are they now?
* Scott McKee (1999-2003) was inspirational in guiding his Dunedin club side to its 10th premier rugby banner in late-July.
Scott, who leaves shortly for a northern winter playing in Scotland, led from the front as Dunedin took an 11-nil break into halftime, before defending stoutly and holding on for an 11-10 victory. An abrasive, combative loose forward, Scott showed the same never-say-die qualities for which he was renowned during his time in Otago Boys’ rugby colours.
The Otago Boys’ 1st XV of 2003 had a strong representation in this year’s premier ranks with Scott being joined by James Cooper (Zingari Richmond), Willie Lawson (Kaikorai), Tom Davie and Ben Kerr (Taieri), Craig Sneddon (Southern) and Ryan Grant (University ‘A’). A number of other players from that side are now plying their trade elsewhere, including Ben Nowell (Japan), Stephen Sasagi (Wellington, ex-Tasman last year) and Matt Larson (Scotland).
While Tom has represented New Zealand in track & field and bobsleigh in between leaving school and returning to rugby this season, several others from that 1st XV have also branched out …
Craig Anderson is in Canada where it is reported cricket is on the agenda, Brice Ritani-Coe is a successful mixed martial arts fighter based in Las Vegas and Jerram Huston has also represented New Zealand at Arafura Games track & field level.
Recent deaths
* We extend our condolences to the families of the following Old Boys –
Christopher John Stewart AM (1942-45), died in Melbourne on 16th June 2009, aged 80. Below is reproduced Christopher’s obituary, as printed in the Melbourne Age:
Christopher Stewart, who was instrumental in forming one of Victoria’s biggest banks and became a respected figure in Australia’s banking industry, has died following a stroke at his Mornington Peninsula farm.
Born to Christopher and Jean Stewart, in the tradition of ambitious New Zealanders, at the age of 24 he left his homeland after studying at Otago University, and settled in Melbourne. Always interested in film, he joined and eventually became a part-owner of Pacific Films, a local production house making films for Australia’s new, voracious television industry.
Stewart soon became a notable executive producer of documentaries and children’s films. The company’s greatest success was The Terrible Ten series, in which a young David Morgan, later CEO of Westpac, had a feature role.
In one of the industry’s frequent down periods, Stewart, always skilled at figures, joined the accounting firm of Holmes & Stephenson. Many of the firm’s clients were co-operative building societies, then a popular Victorian source of housing finance. One such society was operated by RESI, forerunner of REIV. Under his direction the society flourished. He was made managing director, turned it into a stand-alone institution and opened branches in suburban shopping strips and shopping centres.
In 1986, after the Pyramid Building Society collapse, the state government approached RESI to take over the faltering Statewide Building Society. Stewart merged these disparate organisations seamlessly; branch offices were less grand, the lending policy more conservative and the profits greater.
Stewart had found his true metier. He combined his talents for broad-scale financial planning, imagination and thrift with a retailer’s interest in his customers’ needs and concerns. He eschewed chrome and marble and provided welcoming premises with well-attuned staff.
As he rose to the top of the banking industry, he served on boards as disparate as Milton Corporation, Wanaka Investments and the Gandel Group, and he was chairman of the Australian Film Commission, Melbourne Water and Families in Distress. He maintained an abiding interest in building societies and tried to reform the banking payments system.
To all his many involvements Stewart brought a calm objectivity, coupled with a strongly expressed intolerance of humbug and cant. He could quickly size up a situation and whether it involved a script, a building or a loan, he could provide a simple solution. He could always see a ridiculous side to many situations, a side invisible to his earnest peers.
In 1964, he married Judy Ann Ford. Both had had brief, previous marriages. The ceremony at the Independent Church (now St Michaels) was the scene of an early Melbourne "media scrum". The bridegroom may have been an unknown filmmaker but the bride was a television presenter who went on to produce the first "lifestyle" show, filling the Exhibition Building for the next 10 years.
The couple settled into an elegant townhouse in South Yarra, raised a family and at weekends, developed a working farm on the Mornington Peninsula. Meanwhile, back in Collins Street presiding over an extraordinarily successful building society and conscious of the political and money power of the big four banks, Stewart took the momentous step of converting the RESI-Statewide Building Society into a bank. As ever, using his extraordinary empathy with public sentiment, he called it Bank of Melbourne, and created it in every detail.
Extraordinary success started on day one. The Commonwealth Bank’s inept takeover of the State Savings Bank of Victoria gave Stewart’s bank, in the poetic words of a financial writer, "a million unhappy customers falling from the sky". The private banks also provided their dissatisfied customers.
Stewart’s bank was open on Saturday morning and provided free cheques, left-handed cheque books and debit, as opposed to credit cards. Its brief advertisements featured the immediately recognised and trusted Jack Thompson; he promised "to cut the cost of banking". And Stewart did just that.
Although the Bank of Melbourne was noted for the absence of women executives in its upper management, it was the first Victorian business to establish a child-minding centre. The bank flourished, it shares soared and it was soon a part of the Victorian economy and community.
In 1994 — the year Stewart was named Australian banker of the year — the inevitable happened. It amalgamated with Westpac, but after three years, the distinctive blue crests were replaced with three red amoeba and a great bank vanished.
Stewart spent more time at his farm, which he converted into a Blonde d’Quitane stud and he rekindled an interest in his homeland. The Stewarts built a log cabin at a spectacular site on the South Island and visited it every few months.
Stewart continued to be consulted by government and business. He had achieved fame, for which, in itself, he had little regard.
He probably would prefer to be remembered as an innovative and creative filmmaker, rather than a great Australian banker.
He is survived by his wife Judy Ann, their sons, Ashley and Duncan, and grandchildren, Sam and Lily.
Lloyd Herbert Gordon Fisher (1957-60), died in Dunedin on 11th July 2009, aged 66. Lloyd was the brother of Martin Fisher (1958-62).
Ron (Andrew Ronald Moore) Tyrrell (1941-44), died in Dunedin on 14th July 2009, aged 82. Ron was the son of the late Norman Tyrrell (1914-17), was a retired secondary teacher with many years of service at Waitaki Boys in Oamaru and, in later years, was an author and book reviewer, writing on Otago and Southland history.
Bob (Robert John) Chettleburgh (1958-61), died in Dunedin on 15th July 2009, aged 65. Bob was the brother of Peter Chettleburgh (1962-65).
Bill (William Robert Edward) Heenan (1923-24), died in Christchurch on 18th July 2009, aged 100. Bill died just six weeks short of his 101st birthday and, at the time, was our oldest known living Old Boy. An avid reader of the Foundation’s monthly newsletter, Bill was a retired Southland sheep farmer who was awarded a QSM for his services to the community having chaired the Southland Hospital Board for more than a decade. His two brothers – Archibald Heenan (1925) and Ralph Heenan (1929) also attended Otago Boys’ as did his son-in-law Don Goodall (1951-52).
Bill was born (11 September 1908) in the same decade as Richard Pearse and the Wright Brothers recorded man’s first powered flights and just a few years after the invention of radio. He was a teenager before television’s first broadcast and was a grown man before the first computer calculated its initial equation. He was in his late-40s before the Russians raced into orbit, about the same time computers first made an appearance and had already celebrated his 60th birthday before man walked on the moon. No mobile ‘phones, Play Stations or iPods for him!
John Page Richardson (1948-51), died in Stirling on 19th July 2009.
Les (Leslie) Ding (1954-57), died in Christchurch on 19th July 2009. Les, a medical practitioner, was the uncle of George Ding (1961-64) and Colin Ding (1965-69).
Bert (Albert Alexander) Reeves (1938-40), died in Dunedin on 21st July 2009, aged 84. Bert was the father of Craig Reeves (1965-69), was a retired school teacher having served with the RNZAF during WWII and had also been a gifted hockey player.
Reece Lindon Baker (1934-37), died on 5th August 2009. Reece was a retired dental surgeon.
* We also extend our sympathies to –
Bevan Craigie (1958-61) whose mother-in-law Jean Sellwood died in Balclutha on 15th July 2007. Mrs Sellwood was the grandmother of Cory Sellwood (Year 12).
Jonty Edgar (1988-92), Hamish Edgar (1990-94) and Adam Edgar (1994-98) whose grandfather John Hunt died at Wakefield, Nelson on 16th July 2009.
Russell Briggs (1947-50) whose wife Patricia died in Christchurch on 17th July 2009.
Robin Munro (1972-76) and Stuart Munro (1975-79) whose mother Merle died in Dunedin on 20th July 2009.
Jeff Hodge (1975-79) whose father Raymond died in Balclutha on 21st July 2009.
Warren Murcott (1979-82) whose father-in-law Gordon Denniston died in Dunedin on 23rd July 2009.
Wayne Muir (1977-78) and Darrin Muir (1979-80) whose father Bill died in Wainuiomata on 23rd July 2009.
Blair Coghill (1952) whose mother-in-law Daphne Manson died in Dunstan Hospital Clyde on 24th July 2009.
Murray Stuart (1965-67) whose mother-in-law Rema Henderson died in Dunedin on 24th July 2009.
Steve Pile (1961-65) and Nigel Pile (1966-70) whose mother Miriam died in Dunedin on 25th July 2009. Miriam was the widow of Ralph Pile (1935-39). Ralph died in June last year.
Kevin Phillips (1972-76) and Barry Phillips (1978) whose father Peter died in Invercargill on 28th July 2009.
Graeme Botting (1946-51) whose son Timothy died at Woodpecker Bay, West Coast on 30th July 2009. Timothy was the nephew of Brian Botting (1944-48).
Martin Skelton (1980-84) whose father Peter died in Christchurch on 1st August 2009.
Lloyd (James Lloyd) Perry (1931-33) whose wife Cath died in Dunedin on 3rd August 2009.
Craig Sargison (1968-72) whose mother Doreen died in Christchurch on 3rd August 2009.
Warren Lyons (1962-66) whose mother Shirley died in Christchurch on 7th August 2009.
Steve Davie
Chief Executive
