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Interview with Kevin Peel – 1966
Kevin joined St David’s in 1954 in grade 1 and his first memory is of being in class with the
famous Mrs Brick and others such as Mrs Kempster, Mrs Janusch who was head of the junior
school The teachers that stand out in his mind are Br Anthony, Br Andrew (Drac) and Br Bosco .
He remembers standing at line up with Mike Larkin with whom he went through until matric.
Mike became a Professor and was sadly murdered. Kevin and his two brothers all attended St
David’s, with his parents doing the daily trip from their home in Roosevelt Park for 24 years.
Kevin’s father was also a Marist boy at Koch Street and then Observatory.
He enjoyed the sport wanting to be a part of it all and was in the 1st hockey team, 2nd teams for
rugby and cricket and also participated in athletics and played golf. He remembers Trevor Elliot
who started the school’s first golf club. All the Peel boys played sport everyday and their father,
who worked at Rosebank clinic in the radiology department, fetched them at the end of the day.
Because they spent so much time at school they often used to eat with the boarders. Kevin was
the only Peel not to be awarded provincial colours but went on to play 1st team rugby at Pirates
Rugby Club. He and his brothers were in the Pirates 1st team spanning 13 years and at one
stage 13 out of the 15 U20 team were MOBS.
The Inter- Catholic Schools Athletics Meetings were unbelievable, booking out the Wanderers
stadium and the school had some great athletes such as Terry Lavery, some of whose records
remain unbroken today.
Kevin’s father was the chairman of the old Marist Club and captained their cricket team
He is still in touch with many of his friends from those days namely Eric Ambrosioni, Anthony
Walker and Colin Cockerell. Another old boy, Renzo Brocco is Kevin’s first cousin and they
were also related to the Goosen family. Kevin also meets up with other old boys such as
Schoombie, Stott, Foden at Parkview Golf Club. He recalled the Tomaselli family who lived
below the fields.
An amusing incident that he recalled was when he was sent out of class and looked over the
balcony to see his brother sitting on the wall below him as he had also been sent out. He called
out in a voice imitating Br Anthony “Cooome heeer boy” at which his his boet got such a fright
he fell off the wall.
Discipline was hard and strict but the boys didn’t resent it and never complained Kevin
remembered a time when he was sent out of class and told to fetch the brother’s cane from the
auditorium. He found the cane and then dropped it down between the tiered seats and went
back and said he was sorry but couldn’t find it. He wonders if it is still there to this day.
Another memory was the day it snowed and as the brothers came out of their door to assembly
they were pelted with snow balls. One of the glass door panes was broken much to Br
Anthony’s anger and disgust.
Br Anthony attended the 40th reunion which was organised by Kevin and Trevor Elliot.
Kevin remembers the musical “Pirates of Penzance produced by Mr Drummond Bell which was
enthusiastically supported by all the boys and Kevin remembers that his partner at his matric
dance was Jenny Ireton.
After matriculating, Kevin attended Wits University where he studied for a BSC Quantity
Surveying. He then worked in his uncle, Harry Morgan’s practice for a few years. Harold’s
brother was Brother Ronald who taught at St Davids’ for a few years.. Kevin then started up on
his own in 1980 and has worked for himself ever since and is currently with O’Mahoney, Peel ,
Rowney Quantity Engineers.
Unfortunately Kevin’s son was unable to attend a formal school such as St David’s but is now a
journalist.
Kevin has been a contributor to Boys Town for the past 20 years and also supports a number of
other causes such as the Avril Elizabeth Home and Oliver’s Home. Kevin’s company is often
involved in undertaking gratis work for the church when called upon by John Mills’ 59. Kevin
enjoyed his time at St David’s and is more than happy to get involved.
JLE January 2013

Interview with Mike Smith – 1966
Mike was a day boy at St David’s and lived on a flower farm near Alexandra township. He
remembered his first day in grade 1 in the old grades block, Miss Brick was his teacher and she
used to rap the boys knuckles with her ruler. He and his brother Alf used to arrive at the school
early as their father used to drop them off on his way to market. Mike used to go and sit on the
steps and could see the traffic cops who used to come inside the school grounds to do their
speed trapping of cars on Rivonia Rd. He recalls that one morning Br Edwin the then principal
called him and sent him to tell the police that they could get some coffee from the school
kitchen. Mike was terrified of both the principal and the traffic cops so it was quite nerve
wracking for him.
Br Pius who had taught his father at Koch Street was at the school, although no longer teaching,
his passion was the gardens and he used to give the boys sweets from his lucky packet.
He remembered teachers such as Mrs Martin, Mrs Brophy, Mrs Green and Mrs Humphrey in
whose class the last minutes were dedicated to reading time. The boys really enjoyed this and
you could hear a pin drop during this time.
Mike enjoyed playing cricket from the early days when he used to play with his brother.
Throughout his school career there were always excellent cricketing coaches during the
summer months including the likes of Ken Palmer ( played for England); Jack Bannister; Don
Wilson and Poole. Mike had to choose between swimming or cricket and thoroughly enjoyed the
coaching and practise sessions. The coaches added value to their cricketing performances
which was quite good at the time. The cricket nets were next to where the new chapel now
stands.
The highlight of Mike’s school career occurred during the Michaelmass holidays, the school
then had 4 terms, which was the Marist cricket week and all the Marist schools in the country
competed against each other – St Patrick’s –Walmer; St Joseph’s – Cape Town; St Charle’s –
Pietermaritzburg; St Henry’s – Durban and St David’s – Johannesburg. The week was rotated
between the schools and Mike participated in 3 whilst in standard 8, 9 and 10. When the
matches were completed a Marist cricket 11 was selected and all the players were given a
special blazer, this was regarded as being especially prestigious. This team then played the old
boys team. Mike was selected twice for this team and became the captain in his matric year and
still has the badge given to him. During the week the food was good and the players were taken
to see a movie and a social event together with the local convent school was organised. The
Wilf Isaacs visiting cricket team was also a very special occasion and the Nuffield trials week
when St David’s and Observatory had a combined team against the likes of KES and Parktown
which gave the Marist schools a lot of credos. In those days the boys didn’t wear protective
head gear and he recalls an Obs boy, Brian Norberry being hit by a ball between the eyes. He
fortunately recovered from what was a potentially very dangerous injury.
The school’s swimming team at the time was very good and has been ever since. Athletics was
strong and regarded passionately by the boys and included such names as Terence Lavery,
Chris Terreblanche who were very talented athletes. The inter-catholic high he recalls was held
at a stadium. Rugby featured strongly and the tours were very popular. The rivalry between
Observatory and St David’s was strong and became quite hectic at times.
Academically Mike always did well being in the upper quotient of his year. He was amongst the
first boys to be streamed and studied Maths, Physics and Chemistry, Biology, English and
Afrikaans.
The school put on a couple of plays and Mike was involved backstage but did not act.
The brothers were amazing and real characters, Br Edwin, Br Anthony, Br Bosco (Mario) and Br
Andrew who was Spanish. The brothers dining room was out of bounds but, through the
occasional glimpse the boys could see that the food was good and that the brothers ate and
drank well.
Mike was caned on a daily basis, it was like an honour and not regarded as a problem. He
recalls an incident when a rather ripe orange that was thrown and just missed Br Andrew (Drac)
and all the boys were caned.
The matric dance in those days was rather different and the matric boys themselves decorated
the dining room, no huge sum of money was spent on the event and there was no before party.
The boarders were a fantastic bunch and made the school to a large extent, coming from all
over -Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique the Lowveld etc. He still remains in touch with Mike
Beaumont, Bart Dorrestein, Peter Gerrard, Jannie Steyn and Eric Ambrosioni. There were many
polio victims in the school at that time and he remembers Mike Nettman who was unable to play
sport and now lives in New Zealand and was one of the “Four Jacks and a Jill” and has had a
successful career as a musician. Mike organised the 40th reunion which was held at the top of
the Michael Angelo Towers in Bart Dorrestein’s suite “The Cupola” in 2006 and with a braai on
Sunday at St David’s high school paviliion
During his matric year there was much talk about military service and Mike was called up. He
remembers lining up for the medical exam in his school uniform in the drill hall. After completing
his military service Mike went on to Wits University to study engineering and until recently ran
his own construction company. His son Robert (2004) followed in the family tradition and was a
pupil at St David’s and Mike’s father Cyprien, who is now 92 was a pupil at Koch Street and
Observatory.
JE March 2012