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Interview with Charles Fontaine – 1966 (Standard 8)
Charles first came to St David’s in 1953 into grade 1 at the age of 5. He was a day boy and was living in
temporary accommodation with his family in the Rondavels on the corner of Boundary and Fricker Roads.
Charles’s father was Catholic and his mother Anglican.
He recalled his first day walking with his mother to school and an hour and half later running back home.
Needless to say he had to return and was very happy after that initial hiccup. Miss Brick was his grade 1
teacher and was extremely strict. Charles also remembers Mrs Kempster who also taught him. Mrs
Janusch was a dragon who was also extremely strict and rapped the boys on the knuckles with a ruler if
they displeased her.
Charles has memories of Brother Pius who looked after the really beautiful and magnificent gardens. Br
Edwin was the headmaster and Br Anthony from 1960. Charles was also taught by Br Timothy and Br
Vincent. Charles enjoyed Arithmetic as it was made very interesting. He has fond memories of matron
Buckley-Jones who was so sympathetic and kind to all the boys.
In the prep, Charles enjoyed the sport playing cricket, soccer, was involved with athletics, swimming and
bicycle polo during the holidays! The boarders’ dormitories overlooked the school swimming pool and the
boarders sometimes jumped into the pool from the windows on the first floor.
Athletics meetings were sometimes embarrassing especially if you were running last in full view of all the
boys and their parents. On one occasion Charles was training for the hurdles, wearing Mike Larkin’s spikes,
hurdled the wrong way and broke his arm. Mike and John Larkin were also pupils at the school; Mike had
poor eyesight and couldn’t drive because of this. He was in the law faculty at Wits University at one stage
and thereafter at UCT. Sadly he was murdered in Cape Town in the vicinity of UCT.
Mass was held regularly and, on special occasions like Champagnat Day, in the chapel which was very
homely with beautiful statues. Charles was also part of the choir in the production of “HMS Pinafore”.
Most of the day boys parked their bikes at the large bicycle shed which was reconstructed in 1955.
Charles’s worst moment at the school when he was involved in a fight on the slope near the tennis courts
with other boys around egging them on. He had never been involved in any other fights and didn’t enjoy
this one.
Charles was amongst the boys of the first standard 6 class to occupy the new block of classrooms next to
the new chapel. He moved into the other wing where Br Anthony’s office was when he was promoted to
high school. He liked Br Anthony whom he regarded as an incredible person. Charles was very impressed
when, at the 20th anniversary reunion, Br Anthony remembered both himself and his brother by name..
Sadly, in 1962 Charles had to leave to go to St Aidan’s, Grahamstown as his father felt that there were too
many non-Catholics at St David’s. Charles didn’t want to leave but his father had made the decision and he
had to adhere to his father’s wishes.
After matriculating, Charles went into the Navy to complete his military service based with the Naval
Gymnasium at Saldhana Bay in 1967. In 1968 he enrolled for a BComm at Wits University and qualified as
a chartered accountant with a post-graduate diploma in Business Information Systems.. He is currently a
partner with Harris, Dowden and Fontaine, having previously been a partner at Price Waterhouse and
manages the audit for St David’s and a number of schools. Charles is married to Elizabeth and they have
three sons, James, Christopher and Peter.
Charles is a member of MOBS
JLE March 2014

Interview with John Hilton – 1997
John joined St David’s in standard 6, 1993, coming from a government co-ed school, he was at first
overwhelmed by the discipline and having to wear a blazer. The Lacey brothers, Christopher and Alastair
also arrived at the same time.The first few days were interesting and he recalled meeting his best friend
Michael Muller at the pool.
The boys were taught to be men following the school’s motto “Comfortare esto Vir”: take courage and be a
man.
Of the teachers John remembers Gary Norton as being a disciplinarian, Mrs Geldenhuys the Science
teacher, Mrs Marais, Afrikaans and Graeme McMillan who was a good hockey player, Rod Smith
ousemaster of Osmund, Richard Girdwoood, English who was a legend, Neil Mitchell, Religious Education.
John didn’t make life easy for himself, and together with Johnathan Nel wrote a couple of plays for
Osmund, parodies and satires which didn’t please Father Brewer or Paul Edey at all. In his matric year
they wrote “Snow White and the Seven Boers”. They wrote and produced the “SA Natiivity in grade 11 and
were awarded the best play and John the best producer.
The school was relatively small and John remembers the rugby matches against other bigger schools
which were great fun and St David’s always took a beating. Swimming was John’s summer sport and he
umpired cricket and played hockey in the winter. The trip on the train on alternate years to St Andrews,
Bloemfontein must have been a nightmare for the teachers to handle all the boys and the shenanigans they
got up to.
John enjoyed the cultural trip to Europe at the age of 17 with a bunch of his mates touring in a semi Kontiki
style trip.
John was made a prefect halfway through the year, together with Darryl Eames in 1997 and was captain of
1st team hockey in standard 9 and matric and played for the provincial C team. At that time there were only
41 boys in matric. John also participated in public speaking and debating and was a member of parliament
in 1996. He was awarded colours for hockey and a cultural tie for oratory and a scroll for drama. He was
part of a team which won the Microsoft Web Design Competition in 1996
After matriculating, John studied Informatics at RAU working afterwards as an IT consultant for a long time.
However, he is now working for a conservation trust, the Wild Bird Trust on a project in the Okavango,
Botswana. He is also very involved with an Eastern Cape project growing and planting indigenous fruit
trees together with the local population.
John joined the MOBS committee straight after leaving school. The committee didn’t have the full
endorsement of the school at the time but Adriano and John developed the MOBS data base. Darko Vidas
and Chris Busschau were also on the committee which didn’t even have a quorum so it is encouraging to
see the growth in MOBS.
John is still a member of MOBS and would send any son of his own to St David’s.
JLE November 2014

Interview with Cedric Du Trevou – 1989
Cedric joined St David’s in standard 1 (grade 3) and his brother in grade 0. Cedric came from Sandown
primary school. His father was Swiss and his mother Mauritian. His brother was already at St David’s when
he left Sandown and, even being a quiet, reserved boy it didn’t take him too long to settle in.
His first teacher was Mrs Orford followed by Mrs Anderson and Mrs Hurley. He enjoyed the sport especially
tennis and remembers Mr Castle who coached soccer. All the boys were scared of him as he was very
strict and tough on discipline, however his bark was worse than his bite, he had a good heart and all the
boys respected him. Cedric recalls some camps whilst in the prep school and one camp in particular where
he got up to some mischief with Jason Benater and was suitably punished by Mr Castle. Jason and his
brother Lee are now Cedric’s brothers in law.
Cedric was average academically and loved to go home and get involved with electronics.
high school was very different from the prep, a big open space but he eventually settled in and began to
enjoy it.
He was a member of Benedict house and went on the grade 8 camp. It was a bad year for discipline in his
group and Cedric remembers the headmaster a Mr Murphy, the wrestler and a dictator of note. Mark
Reeves was head boy that year and Br Anthony came back until a new headmaster, Mr Frielick was
appointed. It was a difficult time for the school and Cedric experienced two more headmasters, Mr Boswell
and Mr Davies before he matriculated.
Cedric enjoyed the hockey, tennis and swimming but was not a member of any 1st team. He had acne and
was teased quite badly. He now really enjoys his sport and cycles, runs and swims on a regular basis.
There were not any cultural activities in those days but Cedric helped backstage with the lighting for some
school plays.
Of the teachers he remembers Mr Egan who came from the UK, he was obviously unsure of himself and
the boys used to make fun of him. There was an incident when one of the boys caused a minor explosion
destroying half a desk, Mr Egan got such a shock and fell off his chair. The boys got quite a shock too as
they were only expecting a spark and not such a big bang. There was a Mr Cotze who was very strict.
Heather Joseph taught him Art in the prep school and he recalls that she was a nice, genuine person whom
the boys could talk to up until matric, she always had time for them.
For the matric Dance most of the boys invited girls from the Rosebank Convent and Cedric recalls that his
partner ended up with 7 distinctions. The after party was held in Bryanston and there were a number of
boys rather the worse for wear the following morning. Cedric still cannot understand the need to drink so
much which is still prevalent today.
There were only two classes in his matric year. It was a tough time for Cedric as his mother was diagnosed
with leukaemia before his final exams and died a month later. The teaching staff were amazingly supportive
of the family and without their help he would not have coped.
After matriculating, Cedric joined Motorola and was sent to the technikon and for training in house and
overseas. After 8 years with the company he left and joined his father in the hotel business and the
Formula One Hotel Group. He is currently the CEO for Ecomotels a new more price conscious group of
hotels based near OR Tambo Airport.
Cedric married Marianna in 1998 and has two children, a daughter at De La Salle and a son in grade 10 at
St David’s. There was no doubt in his mind that his son should attend St David’s whatever the cost.
Cedric is a member of MOBS and can remember donating a brick for some fundraiser whilst he was a pupil
and is happy to assist MOBS when he can.
JLE April 2014

Interview with Paul Edey 1995 – 2006
Paul Edey was appointed as college headmaster during 1994 to start in January 1995. He had
previously taught at St John’s College and King Edward VII School, where he was a viceprincipal.
The search for a new head to take over from P Davies was led by Tony Frost, head of
human resources at Lonhro,and a colleague of the chairman of the board,Terence Wilkinson.
1994 had been a difficult year for the school with the board conducting a survey which had
resulted in the headmaster, Paul Davies, stepping down. The deputy head, Gary Norton, acted
as head for eight months with Paul Davies continuing to live at Mary Knoll for 7 months and only
moving out in the December of 1994. The school was battling financially and had endured a
succession of lay headmasters in the college following the last Marist Brother, Brother Timothy
Mc Krindle ( (1967-81) South Africa was in a state of flux with the first free and democratic
elections resulting in Nelson Mandela coming to power in April 1994. The relationship between
the prep school , which was thriving and successful and the college which was battling for
numbers was poor
Paul’s biggest challenges were to win the confidence of the prep school and the parents to
encourage them to send their sons to the high school rather than local rivals St Stithians and St
John’s College. In 1995 sixty four boys were admitted into grade 8 and split into three classes.
Some of the top prep boys had been awarded scholarships to rival senior schools, but for the
first time in many years the numbers were up in the college. The school wrote the Transvaal
education department matriculation examination (TED) and the results were generally
undistinguished. There were 267 boys in the High School in 1995 with Michael von
Guilleaume,head boy and Jeremy Wickens, deputy, leading a small but very talented matric
group.
Although Anglican, Paul made doubly sure that the Catholic ethos remained and strengthened.
The numbers picked up from 1996 with a small but stable staff of 18 with some very strong
teachers such as Lesley Henning (HOD Maths), Belinda Marais (HOD Afrikaans), Richard
Girdwood (English and senior housemaster) and Rod Smith, former headmaster of Sandown
High School. We were very fortunate to have a very successful rugby team in 1995 with the side
winning 18 out of 19 matches and going on a very rewarding tour of Australia to round off the
season. Of interest was the fact that the touring squad had 5 boys in it from Jabulani Technical
High School in Soweto whose tour was paid for through the fundraising efforts of the St David’s
community. 1996 was a very weak year academically but the numbers were increasing and
things were looking up.
Rick Wilson was appointed head of the prep at the beginning of 1996. He took over from the
very successful and charismatic Greg Royce, who had left in the middle of 1995 to become
headmaster of St Peter’s Preparatory. The senior school suffered a blow at the end of 1996
when the loyal and hardworking deputy headmaster Gary Norton left to take up the headship of
Oakhill School in Knysna. Pete Geldenhuys, Andrew Brownlee, Greg Lamb and Richard
Girdwood, all four housemasters left during the course of 1996. In one year the entire college
management team apart from the head and bursar had left. Malcolm Williams, an old friend and
colleague of Paul’s from Wits and King Edward’s, was appointed as the deputy head during

1997. A number of other colleagues from the King Edward’s days joined the staff with Simon Fry
      and Stuart Foulds coming in as the heads of department of History and English respectively.
      Teresa Vroom became the librarian.
      Critically, at this time Kevin Brewer became chairman of the board and together with the school
      management team and the support of the Marist Brothers an exciting development plan was put
      together for the school. Under the leadership of Bill Carter and Gerrit Wessels of the
      architectural firm Taljaard Carter, this was to result in the complete redevelopment of the school
      over the next decade. The development plan covered a 10 year period. In 1997 the grade O
      block was built and the high school pavilion replaced the long serving zozo hut from which tea at
      sports fixtures had been served. For years the long suffering mother’s committee, under the
      extremely capable leadership of Mary von Guilleaume, had complained how the cream scones
      and cakes had gone sour in the heat of the summer. These developments were followed by 6
      new classrooms, the redevelopment of the quadrangle, the amphitheatre and the Champagnat
      hall. Two new libraries, a music school and a design and technology centre were to follow in
      quick succession when the astroturf and the new car park were developed the school was
      almost unrecognisable from its rustic appearance of the mid 1990’s. The school borrowed R12m
      with an unsecured loan from Standard Bank after Br Jude and Kevin Brewer went to see Myles
      Ruck. It has to be noted that there was some uncertainty over tenure as the land and buildings
      belonged to the Marist Brothers and all major capital projects over R500 000 had to be
      approved by Rome.
      Over the next seven years the numbers in the senior school increased to 500 and there were
      now more applicants than places. Scholarships were offered to top children which culminated in
      2001 when Garth Horsten, Kyle Wales, Jean Paulo Peirera were in the top 50 IEB matrics for
      that year. The sport showed steady improvement under the leadership of Graeme McMillan with
      cricket in particular able to compete against the top state and independent schools. Hockey was
      driven by Malcolm Williams and the school had reasonably good rugby sides. The prep was
      also very strong in athletics, soccer and swimming., this began to have important spin –offs for
      the college.
      Father Brewer died in 1999, the boys adored him, he was always on the sports field or
      backstage providing support to the boys, but he hated authority and didn’t like headmasters!
      The school was now being headed up by non-Catholics and there was a lot of talk about ethos.
      The brothers started the pilgrimage to France and Rome in order to give lay school
      administrators and teachers a feel for, and understanding, of the Marist ethos and charism.
      It was comforting to have brothers at the school as a buffer against the board which became
      increasingly secular. The school was now being run in a far more business-like manner, but it
      was essential that the Marist ethos be maintained, something which was quite difficult given its
      location in the richest business centre on the african continent.
      Kevin Brewer had had the time and energy to really set the school development plan on its way
      and at the same time to keep a close eye on the finances. He was followed as chairman by
      Tony Reilly, Eric Annegarn, and Tony Chappel. Certainly the board and PTA had some very
      strong people like the Brocco’s, Emmanuels, O’Shea, Busschau, Van Linden families and
      Trevor and Glenda Anderson played a major role. The characters on the staff were Anderson,
      Ansell, Joseph, Castle and Marais.
      Paul was made executive head (CEO) in 2002 which was motivated by Kevin Brewer. Paul had
      been head for 7 years and had started looking around elsewhere to further his career. With
      numbers around 1,100 the school had to think about where it was going next with the building
      having largely been completed. Hence the idea of a super head to deal with the CIE, brothers,
      and JOCASCO and to build up the Foundation office. In the first year of the new headship there
      was no deputy, or clarity on Paul’s role. It was a difficult period for Paul and his great friend
      Malcolm Williams, who was appointed as head of the high school as the new roles were
      established. Malcolm was studying for his Master’s in Education and initially had no deputy until
      the appointment of David Smith to the role.
      Paul seldom interfered with the prep school and only when there was flack did he get involved.
      The prep probably got limited value from the new structure. The philosophy behind the
      appointment of a non teacher in the CEO role was that Mike Greeff brought experience of
      strategic planning, HR, and financial skills with him. He was adept at handling the non- teaching
      aspects of school administration.
      The admin staff Paul recalled were the bursar Malcom Smit, the charming and efficient pair of
      June Anderson (college secretary) and Lindsay Van Heerden, head’s secretary, Genny
      Carvalho, Audrey Williams, Mary von Guilleaume, Sister Mary Ryan and Willem van der Merwe
      and his great team on the grounds George Ndlovu, Big Julius Shivambu, Thomas Ramutsindela
      and of course the long serving Phineas Selima and Julius Shibambu (Zimbabwean) who had
      worked in the brothers dining room for years, deceased who worked for the school for 45 years.
      Paul mentioned that the book written by Margeurite Poland “The Boy in You” about the history
      of St Andrew’s College sold for R450 per copy when it was published in 2008 and a limited
      edition of 100 leather bound copies sold for R5000.
      Paul is currently headmaster of St John’s College.
      JE 2016

Interview with Alfred Lamberti – 1951
Alf first came to St David’s in 1941 at the age of 9. He had been boarding at St Joseph’s Convent in
Krugersdorp from the age of 4 and, unfortunately he didn’t receive much in the way of basic education at
Joseph’s, his parents spoke Italian and he therefore found school rather difficult.
Alf admits that he was quite a naughty boy and was always up to all sorts of tricks. Alf had to repeat
standard 8 as the brothers advised his parents that he would fail his Matric as his Afrikaans was not good
enough, so Alf was sent to an Afrikaans family on a farm in the Krugersdorp area for 6 months to learn the
language. As Alf’s father was Italian he was interned during the war in Koffiefontein and was unable to pay
Alf’s school fees. The brothers allowed him to stay at the school as his father promised he would repay
them once he was released and could find employment. He was a shoemaker but then became a tailor,
together with his brothers, initially as a cutter then designer and worked for Stanger and Co. making air
hostess uniforms for a big contract.
Alf remembers that St David’s when he first came to the school had just opened, wasn’t really finished and
there were holes in the walls. Brother Alban was in charge of his dormitory which had a flat roof outside.
The boys were not allowed radios so they rigged up a copper wire aerial connected to a crystal set with ear
phones.
There was a line of pine trees separating the school from its neighbours by the swimming pool. Some of the
boys decided to make a hidey hole where they could go and smoke in peace, they dug a hole under the
fence and scattered the sand on the roadway. Br Alban spotted it but gave them a day to fill in the hole
thinking they wouldn’t manage it in time. The boys set to and filled the hole with pine needles and topped it
off with sand, however, after the first big storm the needles collapsed and the hole opened up again but Br
Alban didn’t pursue the matter any further. Sometimes Br Alban would have to punish the boys but noting
the marks from recent canings would hit a pillow with his cane and tell the boys to act as if they had been
caned.
The brothers were extremely strict disciplinarians and on one occasion, Br Thomas who taught Maths
asked Alf to write something on the board, Alf made a mistake, Br Thomas aimed for Alf’s head, missed
and his fist hit the board but then he caught Alf from behind.
Volunteers were asked to plant kikuyu grass on the rugby field and cricket oval and they became known as
the “Labour Gang”. One advantage was that on a Sunday the gang was told to sit at the big table next to
the kitchen and they were fed bacon, eggs, toast and marmalade whilst the other boys got the usual fair of
unappetising mealie meal porridge. During the war years there was no bread available and the boys were
given a type of biscuit that was full of weevils with which the boys set up races.
As the school did not have a projector or screen, on some Saturdays the boarders would form a line and
head for the shopping centre which housed the Odeon bioscope via Dunkeld. Unbeknown to the brothers,
the boys would steal items of food from the shops on the way. Eventually the school did acquire a projector
and screen and the “Labour Gang” was allowed to choose the movies but they weren’t very popular as they
preferred action and cowboy movies whilst some of the other boys would have liked movies with girls in
them. The “Labour Gang” under the guise of repairing fences would go into neighbouring orchards and
collect fruit which they then shared with the other boys.
Sport included rugby, although they couldn’t play much until the grass had grown, football, cricket, tennis
and swimming. The brothers had designed a canvas contraption with ropes attached with which they walk
along by the side of the pool dragging a boy along – swimming lessons! Everybody had to participate in
sport, Alf was very competitive and enjoyed running. He also tried his hand at boxing and lost a fight
against Norman Morgan managing three rounds loosing on points.
Alf remembers Br Edwin who was the headmaster in 1950, there was something wrong with his neck and
he had to learn to drive a car using the mirrors as he couldn’t turn his head to see. The brothers he
remembers are Br Alban, Br Edwin, Bartholemew, Clement and Thomas. There were new brothers coming
all the time as they were swopped around between the various schools – Koch Street, Observatory and
Inanda. Inanda and Obs were very competitive.
On Champagnat day a mass was held at St David’s.The boys had dancing lessons but girls were not
allowed! Of his contemporaries Setty Risi is his cousin, Steve Muller was his optometrist and Ray Metcalf
who was Rhodesian used to stay with Alf during the holidays and he remembers Charlie MacAdam,
Norman Morgan and Itoro Baroni.
Just across the road was the Polliack property with a beautiful and lavish garden with an amphitheatre and,
after Bubbles Schroeder was murdered there, a group of boys decided to assist the police and went to look
for the missing handbag and shoes. They turned the amphitheatre in the garden upside down but then Mr
Polliack must have let the dogs and out and they had to run for it over the split pole fence, they all made it
but for one unfortunate rather overweight boy who caused the fence to collapse under him.
Alf was lucky not to be expelled after all these exploits but there was one important rule – you didn’t squeal
on your pals.
Alf managed to get a third class Matric and went to Wits University to study engineering but battled with the
Maths and failed the first year. He then went and found a job and attended Technical Trade School
studying industrial chemistry. He qualified, was awarded a diploma and began his first job as a laboratory
assistant at African Glue Industries. There were quite a few houses on the property, tennis courts and a
pool and Alf and his wife moved in with their birds and rabbits. Eventually they found the smell too much
and moved back into town into Hillbrow and his wife, a qualified nurse worked in the hospital. Initially they
were going to adopt a child and bought a house to qualify but then had two children of their own – Pia and
Mario. Sadly Mario died at the age of seven in a car accident outside a noviciate in Germiston during a day
of prayer. Alf’s wife never got over the loss of her child and after 57 years of marriage died of cancer. Alf
remarried but sadly his second wife died of Aids which she contracted whilst treating patients at the
pharmacy where she worked. His daughter, Pia is a Doctor of Linguistics working at the University of
Johannesburg, she is a single mother to Sophia. Alf, a devout Catholic, he and his wife both visited
Lourdes, feels that his mission in life is now to ensure that his granddaughter becomes a Catholic.
JE October 2014
Maristonian 1949 p61
Maristonian 1949

Interview with Leonard O’Haughey – 1967
Len came from the Rosebank Convent, which he attended for grades 1 and 2, to St David’s in 1958 going
into standard 1. He, very soon after his arrival, earned the nickname “Chick” as within a couple of weeks
he came down with mumps but the boys thought he had chickenpox – hence the origins of his nickname
which has stayed with him ever since. Len was a day boy and cycled to and from school.
Of the teachers he remembers Mrs Kempster as being a battleaxe and the boys were terrified of her; Br
Andrew (Drac) who coached cricket and loved you if you played the game; Mrs Buchan who taught History
in matric; Br Andrew the acting headmaster whilst Br Anthony was away. The boys gave Mrs Buchan a
terrible time and one day she walked out of her class, Br Andrew then took over and made all the boys line
up with Rohan Erleigh being first in line to receive 4 whacks of the cane! There was Mrs Janusch; Mrs
Knesovitch who he didn’t get on with, Miss Owen who was young, blonde and beautiful then from standard
7 onwards there were a variety of teachers including Br Liam; Br Bosco (now Mario); Mrs Buckle; Mr
Pretorius; Br Andrew. Mr Drummond-Bell who used to constantly tell the boys to “Stand together boys” and
as a result Len and Derrick Schoombie are called the “Marist Boys” when playing golf together.
Len felt that the school was good for him. His parents had very little money and the brothers let his mother
pay whatever she could afford at the time. It was never an issue for him whilst he was at the school. The
families of his pals Derrick Schoombie and Anthony Rezek were also very good to him and he remains
friends with both of them to this day.
Len remembers spending a holiday helping with planting up the fields when the property next door was
acquired..
Len played a lot of sport and never really worked at the academics but had a lot of fun. He was an altar boy
and commented that he never experienced anything untoward with any of the brothers in all the time he
was at the school. Len played one game of 1st team rugby but played mainly for the 2nd team; played
cricket from standard 8 to 10 and became involved with athletics as a runner. He was secretary of senior
soldality and a senior officer in the cadets, was made a prefect and was awarded scrolls for athletics and
cricket. He recalls partnering Ronnie Van t’Hof in the school’s tennis doubles championship against Colin
Dowdeswell and Mike Raymond who were very good tennis players. All Len could do was serve and leave
the rest to Ronnie. It was one of his greatest triumphs.
Len was always vying against authority and his son James followed in his footsteps. Both his sons James
(1996) and Deane (1998) came to St David’s from grade 0 until matric. Len won the cross country event in
1967 and his son won in 1995 but didn’t compete in matric and so didn’t carry on the family tradition. Whilst
Paul Edey was headmaster, James was captain 1st team rugby and always in trouble, a rebel and Len first
met Paul when he was about to expel his son.
Len took the girl who eventually married Mike Smith to the matric dance wearing white socks! He received
his prefects scroll that evening.
Len believes that St David’s was good to him coming as he did from a disjointed family and other families in
the St David’s community were very kind to him. He recalls that the high school went into a bit of a decline
and, when Paul Edey took over as headmaster in 1995 it started to turn around.
After matriculating, Len having come from an Irish Catholic family decided to become a priest and studied
for 6 months until he became churched out. He then studied to become a chartered accountant with
Deloittes and ended up living in Baltimore with his wife for 18 months where James was born. On his return
to South Africa, Len got involved with forestry from 1981 until 1994 with Hunt, Leuchars and Hepburn. He
became managing director of the timber facility and, when he was retrenched, he started up in opposition to
them in a mining support business called Trimrite. He built a chipping plant which is the first process in
making paper and developed export markets including the US and Japan. On his visits to Japan he often
met up with Marstao Ushimbubo a former St David’s pupil.
JLE June 2015

Programme

DVD 1 copy