Interview with Louis Cabri – 1951
Louis came to St David’s in 1950 a few months after having emigrated from the USA. The principal was Br
Edwin and the class master was Br Werner who also taught tennis. Because he had studied a different
school curriculum he was absolved from taking Afrikaans and Latin and took Biology via correspondence
through Unisa instead and French with private lessons.
He remembers being told by one of the brothers that he wouldn’t pass but that only spurred him on to
succeed. He found the hardest class to adapt to was History as he had first attended a British preparatory
school, as it happens the same as Andrew Freyman, then 3 years high school in New York. This was not
only because completely different aspects of History were taught eg. early British History under the
Romans followed by the US explorers of the west and the American Revolution to the Kaffir wars, but
because of the different cultural contexts, as for example he had never heard before of the Kaffir wars or of
the Boers.
Louis went onto Wits University taking a BSc in Geology and Chemistry in 1954 and then a first class
Honours in Geology in 1955. After geological field work in several Africa countries he began his graduate
studies at McGill University (Montreal) in 1959 where he received several scholarships. He also received
some professional awards and is working for himself as a consulting mineralogist at Cabri Consulting, in
Ottawa Canada.
Louis remembers some of his classmates – Peter Kaye who took accounting, Peter Rosmarin took a
BCom, Al Zylstra did engineering – civil?, Mike Clarke, BA and became a school teacher in Natal, Carl
Vermeulen became a lawyer, Roland Berger took engineering – mechanical?, Andrew Freymnan took
mining and engineering, eventually getting an MSC at McGill and a PHD is now living in Toronto, Angelo
Lasich took Medicine, Cedric Evans a BA eventually went to graduate school and ended up teaching
college or university in USA, Denis Richardson too accounting.
In the photo of his graduating Matric class Peter Rosmarin is erroneously listed as being in the back row
and Louis as being in the front row making matters worse Louis’s initial is given as A not L and P. Berger
should be R Berger.
JLE May 2013
Louis J. Cabri class of 1951
Louis arrived at St. David’s as a day student for the 1951 Matric year, after spending a couple
months in 1950 at Marist Brothers (Observatory), while the family lived in the Rosebank Hotel.
They had immigrated from the USA, arriving by ship in Cape Town in August 1950, and prior to
buying a house on West Street, Sandown, then a dirt road leading to some fields and a local
butcher. The Balalaika was near the intersection of West Street and Rivonia Road.
This was Louis’ third school in three countries with very different pedagogies and cultural
backgrounds. He began school at the Gezira Preparatory School in Zamalek (Cairo), a nondenominational
private school for boys and girls run by an English couple using a British
curriculum. He remembers the war years when there were exciting (to him) air raids with
everyone filing down the stairs to a basement shelter and then exploring outside for shrapnel in
the early morning. Also meeting many Commonwealth officers (many from SA) that his parents
entertained or in the park who would give souvenir badges and so on. Things were very tense
until the British beat back Rommel’s army at El Alamein (Oct-Nov 1942). He was a sickly child
(asthma) and often missed school so did not excel at sports (soccer and cricket) but he did box
and won the school’s boxing trophy in 1946 as a featherweight.
The family left Egypt in July 1946 as the political instability made things unpredictable, first
going to Rio de Janeiro and then at the end of December 1946 arriving by air in New York.
Since it was mid-year for school Louis briefly attended the last grade before high school at a
catholic school in Brooklyn run by brothers. He then started high school in September 1947
(Scarsdale), a non-denomination co-ed public school. The curriculum was also very different to
the British system, notably American history and culture, and the sports were different
(basketball, American football, and baseball); only sport he could play was softball, an easier
form of baseball. Thus after completing three years of high school the family left again, this time
for South Africa.
Louis began the 1951 school year at St. David’s, which was such a contrast to the co-ed
American high school in many ways. First, because he was going to be there only a year he
was allowed to take French instead of Afrikaans and Biology instead of Latin. Though they
spoke French at home, Louis needed to take weekly private French lessons downtown (Mme.
Mingeau) and biology via a correspondence course from the University of South Africa. The
only teaching brothers Louis recalls were the principal (Brother Edwin) who had a stiff neck or
something that made him hold his head at a bit of an angle and Brother Werner. He does not
recall being caned, probably because being a day student he did not have the same
opportunities to be naughty. One of the brothers (maybe brother Edwin) told Louis sometime
during that year that he would fail the matric, which is maybe why he ended up with a first class
(four A’s and 3 B’s). Louis remembers that the matric exams were held in a “temporary” long
(and hot) wooden hut, probably dating from the war, where the boys sat in long rows separated
by girls from other schools so that they could not be seated next to school friends. The most
memorable exam was the one when the girl in front of Louis (from Red Hill) fainted and was
taken away – we thought because she did not want to take the exam. Louis’ most difficult
subject was history because he had never even heard of South Africa, and of course made
2
more difficult as he did not have the cultural background to help understand and recall names
and events.
Swimming, rugby, athletics, and cricket were important sports at the school but Louis was not
good at any of these. Brother Werner taught tennis after school, which was new to Louis, but
which he enjoyed playing for many decades (with squash) until his knee gave out in his late 60s.
However, there was also boxing, and Louis’ ego was so large that he thought he could take on
anyone. One Saturday, with no preparation or training, he went into the ring against a younger
but well-built strong boy, who gave him a thrashing and nearly knocked him out. The walk back
home was slow and painful with ringing ears, and that was end of boxing! Louis made many
friends there in that short period and append the class photograph from the Maristonian, but
with the legend corrected as there were numerous errors. Prefects were Peter Kaye, Peter
Rosmarin, Alf Zylstra, Mike Clarke, and Carl Vermuelen, all of which became school and
university friends and invited to our house. Louis also had as friends Denis Richardson, Andrew
Freyman, Cedric Evans, and Roland Berger, but he remembers the others. As Louis recalls,
Carl and Mike were champion swimmers and Peter Rosmarin and Alf were outstanding
cricketers; Alf, also having a very low golf handicap.
After St. David’s Louis went to Wits where he took a B.Sc. (geology & chemistry) followed by a
B.Sc. Hons (geology). Following Wits Louis worked as an exploration geologist is the Gold
Coast (Ghana), Sierra Leone, and the north-west Cape, before getting married to Mimi De
Meillon in 1959 and leaving for graduate school at McGill University in Montreal. After studying
for M.Sc. (Appld) and Ph.D. degrees, while working summers as a geologist in northern Ontario
and Quebec, Louis took a research position in 1964 with the federal government in Ottawa,
retiring in 1999 as principal scientist. Louis and Mimi raised three children in Ottawa: one a
university professor, one a ballet dancer and choreographer and one an artist who now has a
little restaurant in Paris (France). They have two grandchildren. Upon retirement, Louis
immediately opened a consulting business, specializing in precious and base metal mineralogy
and metallurgy, with clients world-wide. His incorporated business is still active, but he
considers himself semi-retired and hopes to hear from his former St. David’s school chums.
Ottawa,
2017-12-06

Interview with Mike Clarke – 1951
Mike attended St David’s from 1941 when it first opened and became a boarder in standard 7
when his mother decided that, as he was the youngest at home he should become a boarder.
His elder brother Christopher was sent to CBC, Kimberly he hated it and ran away and joined St
David’s in standard 9. Mike remembers the Dunkeld bus and the walk to St David’s from the
terminus.
He remembers Br Pius well who taught him in standard 3 and because of him he still has
beautiful handwriting. Mrs Lindsten and Mrs Stirton taught the grades, the former owning a
Hudson Terraplane a large car which she drove to and from Marist from Troyville and collected
some boys on the way. Mrs Brophy taught standard 1 and Harry Best the PE teacher a boxer,
started boxing as a sport and brought a well known boxer, Alf Ramsay to the school. Carl
Vermeulen decided to become a boxer and won a bout at Observatory and then gave it up.
Br Osmond was the first headmaster followed by Br Edwin who was a marvellous teacher
whose subject was History and whom the boys called “Bones” as he had arthritis. Br Edwin told
Mike that he wouldn’t do very well, however Mike ended up with B’s in his matric and proved
him wrong. Br Urban was marvellous, Br Benedict was the cricket coach, Br Celestine an
Australian was wonderful and a real academic and taught Latin, Br Alban taught English, Br
Bartholemew didn’t have much of a chin and Mr Bishop was lay teacher.
The school at that time consisted only of the grades block and playground which ended by the
line of pine trees and road where the after care centre is now. There was a house at the bottom
of the road where the brothers lived.
Mike enjoyed his time at St David’s in spite of the tough discipline, he was a prefect together
with Carl Vermeulen, Ian Kerley and Alyson Zylstra enjoying the sport and the atmosphere of
the school. Some of the boys discovered where the communion wine was kept in the chapel
and helped themselves to some of it until Father Kunz noticed the level going down rapidly.
After matriculating, Mike first went to Wits University to study architecture but decided that was
not for him and looked at a career in accounting but then went to Natal University where he
studied English and History, decided he enjoyed the academic life and became a teacher. Mike
went to Zimbabwe after Sharpeville in 1960 and met his wife there. After 14years he returned to
South Africa with his family of 2 young children. He contacted Mark Henning and joined the staff
at St Stithians and taught Latin and English there for 23 years. He then retired and became
head of Bishop Bavin’s Prep and afterwards taught at St Peter’s part-time and in 2004 finally
retired for good and relocated to Knysna.
Mike has lost contact will all his colleagues but is still in touch with Carl Vermeulen and Alan
Schwarer.
Mike’s three children, two boys and a girl did not go to St David’s but to St Stithian’s with him
being a teacher there and his eldest son Rick now teaches English and is a housemaster at
Wellington College in England.
Carl Vermeulen was a lawyer with Werkman’s.
JLE October 2012

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