MOBS

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MOBS

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MOBS

  • UF St David's Marist Old Boys' Association

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MOBS

77 Archival description results for MOBS

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Interview with Bonny Pooley - Parent 1996-2005

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  • 2012

Interview with Bonny Pooley 1996 – 2005
Bonny first became involved with St David’s when her son Gilbert started high school in grade 8
in 1996, and she continued to be so for about ten years even after Gilbert had left.
Bonny assisted in reviving MOBS and established the first contact lists. She was very involved
with the MOBs aspect of the PTA golf day and organised the MOBS annual dinner for two
years.
She also played a big role in the teaching of Religious Education in the high school and helped
Rev Bruce until he left and took over in the interim until Br Mario joined the staff. Whilst Gilbert
was still at the school, she also assisted with the teaching of RE in the prep school for at least
one term.
Bonny also worked for four years with the boys towards their confirmation. Bonny organised the
boys’ retreat hiring a bus to take them to their destination in the Hartbeespoort dam area
together with Father Michael and another teacher. Working together with Chris Busschau she
was responsible for the fact that St David’s ran the programme for the Catholic schools in the
area.
Bonny recalled a special Mass when Father Paul Saggie, a young priest celebrated the Mass in
the middle of Champagnat hall. This had a tremendous impact on the boys and gave them their
first taste of a modern celebration of Mass. Bonny felt that the time she spent with Father
Saggie was very special.
Belinda Marais assisted with the SMILE programme and with a trip to the Baragwanath
oncology unit.
Bonny was class mother all the time Gilbert was at St David’s and helped with the organisation
of various functions especially the school plays when she was in charge of front of house. In
addition she was very involved with the tuck shop helping Mary von Guilliame. She was on the
ladies committee organising the annual mothers’ luncheon at the Bryanston Country Club and
was in charge of the rosta list. For sporting events such as hockey, Bonny was responsible for
the catering for both home and away matches and the annual dinners.
Bonny’s husband Gil was also active within the school and helped with chess as an extra-mural
together with Martie Andrew.
Bonny felt that Paul Edey brought out the best in her son and in fact all the boys during his time
at St David’s winning their admiration and respect.
Some of her son Gilbert’s contemporaries were Damien Tucker; Michael Rands who is currently
in Japan and has published two books; Brendan Murray and his brother Michael who resides in
Australia; Gareth Reece; Paul Slabolepski; Ashton Hayes, David Dias.
Other families Bonny felt made a mark on the school and should be contacted were:
Marsay family
Wharton-Hood
Kevin Brewer and his son Craig “84
The Busschau family
Chemaly
Flascannaro – Luke’98
Giuricich
Gonsalves’ 2002
Gore Vincent and Kevin one is a member of parliament and disabled – the 90’s
Maraschin family
Mitri – the father organised the firework display for Bonfire Night
Peel – 3 brothers ’66, ’70 and ’78 – John, Kevin and Michael- they were farmers in Mpumalanga
Rugani, Vito – son Ivor’ 76 together with Darko and the older Von Guilleame was responsible fot
the MOBS bursary
Schoombie family – Mark, Paul and Sean
Simaan, Andrew, Antoine and Gaby
JE March 2012

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Cheryl King 200 - 2015 Staff

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  • 2014

Interview with Cheryl King - Staff – 2000 to 2015
Cheryl was interviewed by Rick Wilson, prep school headmaster and Mike Forder, bursar and was initially
employed as a secretary to the deputy headmasters Willy Castle and Darrel Webb, taking over from Robbi
Orr who had been employed in the position for 5 years. She shared a very small office in the grade 1 block
next to Carol Ansell’s classroom together with Pam Groenewald who was Rick Wilson’s secretary. Cheryl
recalls that when she was interviewed she said she was familiar with Ms Word etc but then went and did a
course. She had to find her way and sink or swim, organising her own space her own way.
Cheryl and Pam had to share the grade 1 toilet with the little boys! Cheryl remembers hearing Carol Ansell
often saying “Excuse Me” to her pupils which she still does to this day. Cheryl’s younger son Calvin was in
gr 2 with Carol Ansell as his teacher, and found it convenient to come and visit his Mom whenever he had a
problem.
In those days there were no emails or internet and Cheryl was inundated daily with phone calls from
parents as communication was very difficult. Working for Willy was a shock to the system as he and Darrel
Webb were like a pair of Duracell bunnies, always on the go. At the time Glenda Anderson was head of the
junior primary phase, Paul Edey was headmaster of the high school with Malcolm Williams, deputy head
with Lindsay van Heerden and Dawn Arnold as their respective secretaries.
Cheryl saw to all the little boys’ aches and pains sending them to matron when necessary. She was
responsible for the newsletter which was printed every thursday working from pieces of paper which was
very time consuming. In addition to this Cheryl also had to help Norman Cahi, the chairman of the PTA with
all his work and often helped Ron Thackwell. Cheryl also typed out exam papers including Mike Mitchley’s
Maths paper which was quite a challenge with an old computer, entering all the symbols and formulae. As if
this wasn’t enough Cheryl assisted teachers who were not computer literate with their termly report
comments
Cheryl also had to deal with the grade 7’s and the pupil development programme which had different tiers
that the boys worked their way through. The grade 7’s then had responsibilities which were good for them.
Darryl was making huge strides in the prep school introducing a new curriculum in addition to the
implementation of Edu Admin. Previously every child had a file; everything was printed and went by pupil
post or more official documents by the postal service.
Cheryl enjoyed Rick Wilson as a boss he was lovely to work for and then the secretaries used to get one
half day off per week. Being a working mom at the school was great in that she could go to the various
assemblies and sports events that her sons were involved in.
Willy Castle was given a cell phone, he then phoned non-stop for everything and anything and would often
call and ask Cheryl to come to the field where he would then tell her what he needed. However they both
worked well together, working hard with long hours often until late at night. Cheryl had to attend all the
functions, there were 75 boys in each grade and each received a personalised letter signed by Rick Wilson,
Willy Castle and Darryl Webb. Copies had to be made and it was all very time consuming.
Cheryl also organised the tours for each age group, grade 3 to 7, booking transport and tickets. There was
no school driver and Red Arrow coaches were utilised. Willy Castle also had a full teaching load followed
by sport in the afternoons.
Cheryl moved to the current prep secretaries’ office in 2003 when Pam resigned and Coleen Donaldson
took over as secretary to Rick. It was exciting then to receive emails but Cheryl still had the responsibility to
call all the schools to confirm venues for all the sporting fixtures. Willy used to put all the fixtures on an
enormous sheet of paper and Cheryl then had to type it up.
Cheryl remembers the fantastic end of year and end of term functions, with parties accommodating all ages
with everyone having good fun.
In 2005 Chantal Ratcliffe was employed as a consultant to the school .Tony Chappel was then chairman of
the board and an advert was placed for the foundation post for which Cheryl applied. Paul Edey, who had
been appointed executive head in 2002 and Chantal interviewed Cheryl. Cheryl was nervous about taking
the job and making the move and discussed this with Willy appreciating his advice. She and Chantal
started working in what is now the deputy head’s office and for the first four months Cheryl updated the
MOBS data base inherited from Stephan Contardo. Patrick Busschau was chairman of the old boys
committee at the time. In 2006 they moved offices again and were in what is currently the admissions office
and the Foundation trust was officially launched.
Initially Cheryl and Chantal’s focus was raising money for the chapel which was completed in 2007. There
were so many events to organise to introduce the Foundation around which there was a lot of negativity.
Functions were organised for old boys and many didn’t arrive. The old boys were pessimistic about the
Foundation and felt that they were just being asked for money.
In 2008 Chantal and Cheryl moved once again to an office in the admin block. Chantal left in 2010 and Lara
Klement was appointed Foundation and marketing manager. The marketing then almost took over, but
MOBS was getting stronger. Lara had a huge task on her hands, introducing a new corporate identity and
she bought in new marketing material with the gazebos, banners and hand outs. Cheryl also had to work
hard with the old boys getting them back into the school. Paul Vidas took over from Patrick Busschau as
chairman of the old boys and now with Willy Castle in that position he has brought a new energy and
enthusiasm with him. The database is now sitting on 5000 old boys, the Grahamstown and Cape Town
events are very successful and Mike Greeff has also made visits to the UK and to Australia. There was a
different vibe this year at the Cape Town reunion with a sit down dinner at St Joseph’s. Facebook is a great
media giving MOBS and the school exposure. Before he left, Malcolm Williams was very supportive and
was instrumental in introducing the old boys assembly, in particular the memorable assembly in 2003 for
old boys of 1973 and 2003. Mike Lamusse organised a get-together and dinner for the 1973 MOBS which
was incredibly successful. In 2007 the Matric Rite of Passage was initiated which was a positive move to
introduce the current matrics to MOBS.
Cheryl finds her role very frustrating at times but is passionate about MOBS and the potential of the
Maristonian and acknowledges that she couldn’t cope with all the events without the help of the support
staff. The highlights of the Foundation and MOBS functions were this year’s rugby festival with the St
David’s 1st team rugby beating their opponents, St John’s. It was an emotional and unforgettable day
seeing the old boys and the school boys together doing the war cry with Willy Castle standing under the
rugby post.
Relationships have been built over the years with parents, staff and MOBS. The old boys have been
tremendous and it is very special now with Willy Castle being prep headmaster and chairman of MOBS.
It has been a difficult decision for Cheryl to resign and to work on a part-time basis although it is better for
Cheryl and gives her more flexibility but still enables her to continue to pursue her relationship with Willy
Castle and 2016. Carey Fisher is now handling the marketing so Cheryl can focus on the alumni. Fiona
Budd’s focus is on fundraising , strengthening the Foundation and bursary funds especially the Willy Castle
bursary fund, having already introduced Snapscan and insituting debit orders. The years ahead will be
challenging and difficult but Willy will be happy as he will always be remembered with his bursary fund.
Cheryl will also be working on the MOBS bursary fund raising more finance, but MOBS will be Cheryl’s
major focus and Willy Castle is very supportive.
The school has grown substantially and it is comforting to see MOBS bringing their sons back to the school.
It’s all about relationship building and is almost like a circle within the school – admissions – prep – high
school – then MOBS.
JLE November 2014

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Chris Busschau 1965

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  • 2011

Interview with Chris Busschau – 1965
The Busschau family association with St David’s and the Marist schools began in 1889 when
Peter Busschau was the first boy to arrive at the Marist School at Koch Street, Johannesburg. In
those days Johannesburg was a mining town and Peter Busschau lived, like most of the
inhabitants, in a tent. Peter was the third of three sons and the older boys went to CBC in
Kimberly whilst the family was living there. When his father was transferred back to
Johannesburg, Peter went first to the End Street Convent until Koch Street was opened.
Later Observatory, now Sacred Heart was opened as an off-site campus and his father went
there as did Peter’s four sons. St David’s initially was not a separate school but rather an
extension of Observatory and Koch Street which closed in 1964.
Chris only attended St David’s for two years as his father was based in Port Elizabeth and he
went to the Marist school in PE. When father was transferred to Johannesburg and Chris came
to St David’s he was at the outset very intimidated coming from St Patrick’s, a poor relation to St
David’s. St David’s was regarded as a vastly superior and wealthy school, with a very high
standard both academically and on the sports field. At that time all the Marist boys in standard 6
wrote the Marist school exams and St David’s always had a disproportionately high number of
boys who achieved high marks.
On Chris’s first day, aged 16, his parents dropped him off at the main gate. He made his way
into the school and ended up next to the auditorium and was asked by Terry Ray if he was a
new boy and chatted to him about the class he was going to. This was quite a coincidence as
Brother Vincent had previously suggested that he meet up with him and a number of other boys
including Terry Rosenberg, Drummond Robinson and Tony Wickens. Chris’s fears were
immediately dissipated and he settled in very quickly. Now years later he is still in touch with
Terry Ray, now living in Toronto and Terry Rosenberg living in Durban, and he regularly sees
Tony and Drummond.
The head of the school was Brother Anthony who was very much the king during that era. Br
Anthony had formerly been the head of the prep school in PE and was a strong leader, very
astute and had the skill of being able to harness both educational and administrative skills. He
had the firm commitment from the parent body and others outside of the school and of course
the boys too. His nickname was “Aunges” because of his Scottish pronunciation of oranges.
Chris a day boy, played cricket, was very keen, a member of the first team. He went on to play
serious cricket when he left school. Due to a knee injury he did not participate in rugby but
played hockey and tennis, ran the mile and represented the school in cross-country but was not
a good swimmer. He recalled a chap in his class Roy Hutton who gained Springbok colours for
swimming. Chris was steady academically and achieved a first class matric, B level.
The main events that stand out, were the mass on the closing of Koch Street and the launch of
Marion College. Several thousand pupils wearing the Marist uniforms and what seemed like
hundreds of brothers were around, and photos of the event were carried in the local press. The
Mass was held in the Catholic Cathedral near to Koch Street.
In 1964 he recalls the first St David’s Old Boy to be ordained as a priest – Michael Linden who
celebrated his first mass in the old chapel.
Chris Terreblanche was the head boy in 1964, he became a doctor and died tragically on a run
5 years ago (2006). He was an extraordinary boy and man, handsome, charismatic,
intellectually gifted and a great athlete, sprinter. He recalled him beating against all odds, Paul
Nash, the glamour sprinter from Michaelhouse, at nationals.
In standard 9 he remembers a guest speaker at prize giving, Prof Bozzolli who was then the
vice-chancellor of Wits University. He made a powerful speech in which he said that the word
school is a collective noun as a school is made up of pupils, teachers, ground staff etc. This
speech probably coloured Chris’s attitude and loyalty to St David’s.
On leaving St David’s he went into the army, completed his army service and went on to study
economics at Wits University. His first job was with Anglo American as a junior economist. At
that time he was involved in politics, Zac De Beer being his boss, who later became a member
of parliament for the Progressive party. Chris stood as a candidate and experienced problems
with the security police spending a night in police custody. Much to his relief he was released
the following morning, unlike many other hapless individuals who were held for much longer
periods. Later he worked as a financial journalist and met his wife Pam who was a ballet dancer
with Pact, as was his sister Ann. He had 3 sons and 2 daughters. He ended up in the financial
world with the Standard Bank Group for many years and now does consultancy work for the
financial services board. All his 3 sons taught at St David’s at some stage in their careers and
currently Ian is still teaching here. His grandchild, Owen is registered to start in grade 00 and
will carry on the Busschau tradition now 5th generation.
Chris has continued to be involved with the school and was a member of the old boys on
leaving. There was a monthly pub night at the old Balalaika Hotel, stag dinners, dinner dances
and he watched the rugby matches and attended some of the athletic meetings. He became
more involved when Patrick started at the school. The infamous John Murphy was head when
he started in the prep school. Chris eventually was invited onto various committees and was
involved with fund raising activities and the Busschau family traditionally ran the hamburger
stand. He was eventually elected onto the PTA in 1989 until 1999. He was
vice-chairman for 5 -6 years and then became chairman from 1995 to 1999 and, as result also
served on the board of governors. He has been a member of the old boys committee for the
past 10 years.
Chris is also a member of the Liturgical Executive of the SA Catholic Bishops Conference, and a
member of the finance committee that handles justice and peace programmes. He is also
chairman of the board of Radio Veritas.
Other items of interest:
Br Edwin, head from 1950 until 1957, had family connections with Neil McGurk, who is now
living in Durban. Neil was extremely talented, an SA schools cricketer who became a brother.
He has doctorate in nuclear physics and used to fly to Harvard every year and oversee a final
programme for the students there.
In the old boy’s Magazine, about 3-4 years ago is an article about the legendary matrics who
stole exam papers.
Darryl Boswell had a nervous breakdown and couldn’t cope and hence Trudy Elliot was
appointed Acting Head for the final term in 1988
JE August 2011

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Chris Marsay 2003

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  • 2014

Interview with Chris Marsay – 2003
Chris joined St David’s in 1991 going into grade 0. He remembers a party that was held the year before he
came to the school with all the cool guys lying on the nets in the playground and Chris feeling quite
desperate as he was unable to find the toilets.
He will be forever grateful to Mrs Ansell, his grade 1 teacher who picked up that he had a squint. He was
very fortunate as he had to wear glasses for two weeks and then have an operation to correct the squint.
He has some good memories of the prep school one of them being the regular April holiday soccer clinics
run by Willy Castle. The East London train trip for the soccer tour was an annual highlight travelling
together with four of his best friends from grade 0 until matric, Sean Schoombie, Glynn Allen, Robert Smith
and Jason Simaan. Everyone had to particpate in the sport in the prep school and Chris joined in with the
swimming, athletics, cricket and soccer. As he was young for his year this put quite a bit of good pressure
on him.
Chris recalls Mrs Walton, his grade 0 teacher asking him when his birthday was, he wasn’t sure but said it
was on a date last year but he didn’t know when it would be this year – a lesson well learnt that his birthday
would always be on the same day every year. The infamous Mrs Scaafsma, his grade 2 teacher who drove
an orange beetle, Mrs Hurley, grade 3 who convinced all the boys that she was a witch and lived in a cave
on Northcliff hill. Dave Hosmer who came from St Vincent’s School for the Deaf and taught them all some
sign language. Mr Mitchley, the first male influence and Mandy Everson who was one of his favourite
teachers. The boys were all very sad when Greg Royce announced at assembly that he was leaving and
going to St Peter’s. Chris remembers him saying that St David’s is not a good school, it’s a great school.
Chris was friendly with Andrew Castle and often stayed over at their home and he remembers always being
very much in awe of Andrew’s father Willy Castle.
Chris had a unique entry into the high school with his older brother Michael being a prefect in matric. The
grade 8 camp to Glenmore was very different with all the new guys and the macho guys. Chris was a
member of The Bishops, a fun house to be in.
Chris played water polo in the high school, was vice captain of the 1st team, is still playing for MOBS and is
still friends with Kyle Biller who is in teaching for all the right reasons. He was selected to play for the
Gauteng U14 team but was dropped because of new quota requirements but nevertheless it was an
experience to remember.
There was also the Argentina rugby tour in 2003 with Gareth Kolkenbeck-Ruh, which set the tone for rugby
that year. Rod Smith, Bradley Ireland and Graeme Mcmillan accompanied them together with Gary
Hodgson who co-ordinated the tour together with Clive Gladulich and got sponsorship from Microsoft.
There was a great group of parents with them and a Uruguayan exchange student Nick Rosenti. Everyone
wanted to host Nick or the two black members of the team.
Champagnat day was always a good day with cokes and donuts after mass at the pool, getting extra
pocket money for a free day from school and he was often part of the team playing soccer against the staff
or parents. He remembers the day Mandela came to St David’s in 2002 and the photo taken with him
together with the 2002 1st rugby team – very special.
Chris remembers Marius Buys with affection and recalls great school tours with him. He gave the boys lots
of responsibility and always said ”What goes on tour, stays on tour”. Marius started a Friday afternoon
activity “Power of the Pen” and all the boys who attended had to bring R10, wear a funny tie and go with
him to Sandton City and read poetry.
On a cultural level, Chris was involved in the production of “As You Like It” in conjunction with Brescia
House and directed by Mrs Wylde. Because of inclement weather, the unconventional production took
place in the hall performing from the entrance and not the stage.
Academically Chris did well and achieved 1 A, 2 B’s, 2 C’s and 1 D in matric, he was awarded general
honours and was appointed prefect. 2003 was a good year and the boys stood well together as a group.
Sport was particularly good with the Cricket team winning the Johnny Waite Trophy and the 1st team rugby
beating both Jeppe and KES at away matches.
After leaving St David’s Chris studied for a BCom at Wits for a year then moved to Varsity College, Cape
Town and completed two years sports management winning an award followed by a year at Damelin doing
a course in events management. He then applied to complete a post graduate degree in marketing
management at UCT and felt that he learnt more in that year than the preceding four years. He then
worked for Dream Lifestyles, owned by Gareth Simaan selling shares in a lodge and vacation lifestyle
products. In 2010 he joined the family business Marsay Equipment as marketing manager and hasn’t
looked back since.
Chris is a member of MOBS and of the MOBS water polo team. JLE
March 2014

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Conor MacFadden 1991

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  • 2014

Interview with Conor MacFadden – 1991
Conor began his career at St David’s in grade 0 in 1979.His first classroom was where the old swimming
pool used to be and Mrs Walton was his teacher. He was also taught by current teachers Willy Castle,
Carol Ansell, Heather Joseph and Belinda Marais.
The clergy still played a major role in the school at the time with Father Plestus being exceptionally kind
and caring. Father Brewer was also very special, a mentor and very close to many of the boys. He stood up
for the boys and operated in his own area within the school which meant he wasn’t always popular with the
teaching staff.
Conor was a member of The Bishops and his housemaster, who taught History was Mr Howarth.
The most significant memory he has is of the soccer tour to Belgium in 1985 with two teams, the U10’s and
U12’s. South Africa, because of apartheid was a pariah country and it was unusual to play any sport with a
foreign country. It was an amazing experience touring Belgium for 2 to 3 weeks and a very significant one
for the boys. Because of the rarity of such tours at the time, the SABC decided to do an insert on one of its
programmes Video 2. Martin Bailey was the host and came on the tour with the boys. Conor has a copy of
the broadcasted footage.
Conor also participated in cricket and rugby as well as soccer. He was the junior school cricket captain and
played rugby in high school. Other pupils such as Ivor Rugani played provincial cricket and Brad Rains
provincial rubgy in 1991. They both have sons at St David’s as does Conor. Conor also played golf at the
Wanderers. There certainly wasn’t the variety of sports that are available to the boys today and everybody
had to participate. Hockey had been introduced but was quite contentious at the time.
Conor remembers being a co-worker and was part of a group who visited Brother Anthony’s mission in
Kuruman.
The boys attended the matric dance from standard 9 and it was held in the school dining room. It was much
lower key than today with the boys decorating the venue themselves.
After matriculating, Conor studied law at Wits University and joined Bell Dewar and Hall which recently
merged with the Canadian firm of Faskin Martineau. Conor, a partner is involved with corporate and tax
law.
Conor has a son Liam at St David’s who is currently in grade 1 and is happy to see the Marist tradition
being carried through to the next generation.
Conor is a trustee of the St David’s Foundation and is a member of MOBS.
JLE September 2014

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Darko Vidas 1962

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  • 2011

Interview with Darko Vidas 1962
Darko joined St David’s in 1960 after living in Namibia. His mother had died and eventually his
father decided to move to Johannesburg hoping for a better life for his children. Darko was a
boarder and found the first year to be very hard; it was difficult to get acquainted with everyone
and everything, plus the fact that he went overseas for two months to Europe and Croatia to
meet his family there.
Darko was quite a rebellious child and initially found the discipline at St David’s to be a difficult
change from life as he knew it. Brother Anthony had just been appointed headmaster and he
began by reading the boys the riot act as he was determined to change the ethos of the school
and behaviour of the boys. Darko thought he would get thrown out of the school!
His first day was quite horrific. Getting organised, classrooms, teachers and books he needed. It
was a very different environment from Namibia where he went to a much poorer, dual medium –
English and Afrikaans school and discipline was a big issue. His English was never very good
as he had been brought up in his mother tongue of Croatian until he went to school and he
battled with the language.
He now speaks Croatian, English, Afrikaans, German and a little Zulu and firmly believes in
introducing other languages to children as it gives them a greater vista and an advantage.
He also remembers serving at mass in Namibia, if you did this the nuns gave you breakfast
which included delicious rye bread and polony.
He really enjoyed his time at St David’s, making good friends, with whom he really bonded.
They shared everything, which was a great experience; he mixed with boys from different walks
of life – richer and poorer than himself – having compassion for one another. The brothers
showed love and compassion even though they were disciplinarians. As far as he was
concerned there were no cons to boarding school life at St David’s, for him it became his home
and haven as he no longer had a mother at home. He also remembered that the food was very
good.
Some of the Old Boys he is still in touch with and some he remembers:
Alec Quail Steven Muller
Doug Wickins Mike von Guilleaume
John Daly Rugani - deceased
Alf Smith Tonetti - deceased
The last day he can’t remember which exam he wrote. He remembers that he wasn’t happy
about leaving and knew he would always be back. It was the end of an era and he was sad
about it.
The boys were made to play sport and he played 1st team rugby and was vice –captain of 1st
rugby team, although he had never played before. He was also a good athlete. His record with
cricket was rather ignominious as, during net practice he disgraced himself and managed to
injure one of the school’s best batsmen. Needless to say he wasn’t encouraged to continue. He
was nicknamed “Bull”, was rugby prop and was injured in a match against KES. Whilst he was
in hospital, Br Anthony told the boys to go to church and pray for Bulls recovery.
His class was the smallest matric class ever, just 17 of them, but they played against all the top
schools and beat Observatory for the first time in 1961 away (3-0) 1962 at home (6-8).
As teachers, he didn’t think the brothers were particularly good but they were certainly always
encouraging and supportive. The brothers at the time were Br Anthony, Br. Gerard, Br Liam, Br
Dennis who coached rugby and Br Ignatius and there were some lay teachers in the junior
school. Br Gerard was kind, compassionate and a dedicated teacher who helped him a lot with
his English and gave him extra lessons at no charge. He put up a stage production of “Hamlet”.
All the boys had to learn the roles and not only learn the words but understand and interpret the
meaning. He was also the senior master for the boarders and used to feed them extra food in
the form of cakes from the brother’s fridge.
The brothers were a family in themselves and motivated all the pupils and taught them to be
innovative and to think laterally. They taught them to understand what they were trying to do
and not just to learn another formula.
He remembers that he and some of the other boys built a stage for a production of “Swan Lake”.
They took Gertie, the school bus to collect wood from some of the boys. However that didn’t
come to anything and eventually the wood was donated. When it was finished it had to be
transported from the wood workshop to the school hall (now the library) and all the boarders
mucked in and helped.
Alex Quail and Darko shared a big trunk in which they kept their books and punishment for
some of the younger boarders was to carry this trunk from their classroom back to the study.
Once, a couple of boys dropped the trunk, which then went sliding down the stairs nearly wiping
out Brother Anthony. The poor boys even got caned, an additional punishment however Brother
Anthony didn’t cane hard as he really didn’t believe in caning.
Another time the boarders went on strike protesting about the food and one boy even sang a
ditty
“Sausage in the morning, sausage in the evening sausage at super time”. Brother Gerard who
was in charge of the boarders had a soft heart and often used to open the brothers fridge and
hand out some food.
An incident, where he got into trouble after complaining about an English test, led him to be
disciplined by Br Anthony. He was not allowed to wear his honours blazer for 3 months. It was
very hard for him but he learnt the true meaning of the school motto “Comfortare esto vir - Take
courage and be a man”. Br Anthony was the cornerstone of his life, always there to listen and
offer advice and was a guest at Darko’s wedding.
Darko was vice captain of Osmond house and a prefect.
Darko’s first girlfriend, who was with him at his matric dance, much to his horror, became a nun,
however they kept in touch until she died.
When he left school he went into the navy. He volunteered together with Doug Wickins.
Afterwards he started an apprenticeship with Eskom as an electrician but he decided this
wouldn’t get him very far and studied electrical engineering at night at the Wits technikon. When
qualified he joined Siemens where he stayed for 41 years until he retired.
He brought his future wife to St David’s and remembers telling her that any sons of his would be
pupils at the school. He continued to be an active member of the school community and served
several terms on the PTA from and on the board of governors as a well as on the old boys
committee and the old boy’s bursary fund, but hastened to add that many of his compatriots did
likewise. Darko was also good friends with the now infamous headmaster John Murphy. Darko
being a boxer had something in common with him. Darko was at that time chairman of MOBS
and was on the board of governors. He was distressed to here of Murphy’s wrestling exploits
but agreed he had to go when his falsification of qualifications also came to light.
JE May 2011

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Darrell Caister 1986

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  • Item
  • 2012

Interview with Darrell Caister – 1986
Darrell remembers his first day at St David’s . He came from the Waldorf school and was placed
In grade 4 although unbeknown to his teacher, he couldn’t read or write, and didn’t know the
alphabet. He spent a week in his class before being caught out, he watched the other boys and
turned the correct pages etc but one day he was asked to read out loud by his History teacher,
Mrs Napier. He refused and was caned. He was then sent back to grade 1, the second term
grade 2 and eventually managed to get back into grade 4. Because of this he was bullied and
picked on, however in standard 3 he was awarded the highest marks for Maths. He will never
forget that History book or Mrs Napier who was eccentric and used to allow a group of 3 or 4
boys to jump on the bonnet of her car when she arrived in the morning. She would then scream
around the U turn (next to Mike Greeff’s house), then brake hard by the fence next to Rivonia
Road and all the boys would fall off. This was of course great fun.
Mr Manolios was loved by everyone. Mr Cotze the standard 5 teacher was feared by the boys
but he was always fair. Mr Findlayson taught History and during an incident in class he threw
the blackboard duster at one of the boys, missed and it hit another boy and cut his head. The
boy in question was enraged and big; he picked up Mr Findlayson and threw him out of the
classroom. Br Ephraim taught JP Maths, Br Timothy had just left – he used to click his fingers
loudly and pointed. When he jacked a boy he would put their head under his desk and when he
used the cane the boy would automatically bring his head up and thereby receive a double
whammy. Willy Castle was his class teacher in standard 4 and Darrell used to get caned for
being naughty.
Mr Murphy was one of the headmasters during his time and he was well liked and admired by
the boys. He built up camaraderie between the matrics and the sports teams; he was a strong
man and a leader.
There was a high turnover of teachers in the high school apart from Trudy Elliott and Mrs Collier
both head of department. The appointment of Darryl Boswell as headmaster was very
contentious as there was a lot of support for Trudy Elliott especially from the boys. The boys
nicknamed Mr Boswell “little Darryl” and during a photo shoot, Darrell was standing behind him
and nudged him causing his toupé to move! In spite of this he still became head boy. Despite of
the turnaround in the number of headmasters, there was a good spirit and, many of the boys he
was at school with then get together every Thursday.
Darrell was involved with water-polo, swimming, athletics, and rugby until standard 9 when he
was badly concussed. He was also a member of the junior town council. Darrell never needed
an alarm clock as he lived across the road from the school and every morning awoke to the
rugby team running past with Willy Castle singing war cries.
He remembers first becoming aware of apartheid and its implications when he and a group of
boys including Vusi Shongwe (whose boys are at St David’s now) went to the movies. Vusi was
refused admission because he was black and all the boys refused to go in. No government
school was multi-racial in those days and he thinks that one of the reasons he became a
conscientious objector and didn’t serve in the army was because he attended a multi-racial
school.
His class in matric was small with about 40 boys as many boys had left. He recalled that that
was the year that hockey was first introduced as a sport. His last day was particularly sad as he
was suffering from meningitis and spent the day in Father Brewer’s bed trying to write an exam.
He was accepted by Natal University and studied law, then started his own business becoming
an entrepreneur. He ran 5 companies, sold them and went into something different again. When
he first moved back to Johannesburg he tried to get his son Dominic into St David’s but was told
he had applied too late. However Father Brewer, who was a delightful, compassionate man,
intervened and insisted that he be admitted. That was the catalyst for Darrell getting involved
with MOBS. He was chairman of MOBS for 4 years and remembers the building of the pub in
the pavilion when the PTA eventually had to bail MOBS out. His other son Grant is currently a
pupil at St David’s and he has a daughter, Bernice.
Darrell has a farm in Mpumalanga, near Pilgrims Rest which houses a school originally built by
German missionaries. He has helped to rebuild the school and supports it on an annual basis. It
is in an informal settlement and whereas before they had to rely on volunteer teachers they now
have 2 permanent teachers supplied by the government.
Darrell has in his possession a rugby jersey blessed by the Pope.
JE February 2012

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Darryl Jago 2006

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  • 2014

Interview with Darryl Jago – 2006
Darryl came to St David’s from Montrose primary school in 2000 going into grade 6. His older brother was
already at St David’s.
Initially he found the classrooms were much bigger than the ones he had been used to and they had a
strange platform which the teachers used. His first class teacher was Mrs Whitfield. The tuck-shop had a
wider variety of food and he found it interesting to be in a monastic set-up as opposed to the co-educational
environment of Montrose.
Darryl found it easy to make friends especially as Sebastian Ridley and Karabo Mooki had been assigned
the task of looking after him. Church was a very big thing especially coming from a school with no strong
religious affiliations and it became quite interesting. Darryl’s father was Protestant and his mother came
from an Anglican background.
Darryl loved the sport and participated in cricket, soccer, athletics – the 1500m. He also tried swimming but
soon acquired the nickname “Rocky” as he always sank to the bottom!
In grade 8 all the boys had to wear massive name tags, carry a rock around with them and perform different
drills until they passed the new boys exam. On reaching high school Darryl became a keen hockey player
and was a member of the U14A - captain, U15A - captain, U16A and 1st teams. He currently plays premier
league hockey and coached 1st prep school hockey and 2nd team high hockey whilst at university and whilst
teaching at St David’s. He also played cricket. He recalled that Alex Gitlin, master in charge of hockey was
tough to get on with but once Darryl understood his purpose he then related well to him. He was an
incredible geography teacher and the best school boy hockey coach around. Darryl will always remember
the excitement of being the first year to play on the Astro turf and wearing the white scarf of the 1st team.
Darryl also enjoyed the cultural aspect of the school and participated in the inter-house plays and being
involved with the likes of Kalil, Schneider, Lambert and Roszinski. He also enjoyed debating, played a role
in the school parliament. Champagnat Day was always special, so too being able to walk on the grass in
matric.
Deanne King developed Darryl’s passion for English and he enjoyed her classes, Willy Castle was
fantastic, and made him pick up litter even when he had a broken toe and couldn’t participate in athletics.
Paul Edey had a huge persona; he was an incredible man teaching History and guidance with fire and
passion. He commanded respect from the boys with ease. Darryl remembered the night bus ride to the
grade 8 camp at Glenmore and getting to know everyone. On that camp were Rod Smith, Graeme
Mcmillan, and Phil Andrew who made all the boys line up in the pouring rain. Rod Smith was one of the
best teachers Darryl ever had and recalls his enthusiastic rendering of the “Best of Bosman”.
Academically Darryl did well in the prep school being a year younger than his peers having come from
Natal where schooling starts earlier. However in the high school he really only began to focus again in
matric. Darryl saw the teachers in a different light towards the end of his matric year.
The matric dance had a “Troy” theme and was held at the Wanderers with the traditional after party and
many stories followed. The last day the boys organised a goat and tried to create a zoo, they also stole the
doorknobs of the downstairs classrooms, there was toilet paper everywhere and the inevitable waterballoons.
After the shirt signing, they all met at Cobblestones at Montecasino to celebrate. The following
week many of the boys were back asking for revision lessons to help with the exams.
After matriculating, Darryl began studying a BComm but soon recognised that he had a passion for the law
and transfered to the University of South Africa where he completed his LLB. He was then unsure which
career path to take and, whilst he was coaching at the prep school, Rick Wilson encouraged him to become
a teacher. In 2012 he embarked on a teaching internship with Lisa Hatfield and taught Life Orientation,
History and coached various sports in the senior primary.
He was then approached by a representative of Total with an offer of a legal internship which he couldn’t
refuse. He is being retained for one year as an advisor in the legal department and currently provides direct
legal support to the head of legal and the expatriate office. He is dealing with competition law matters,
general litigation, compliance projects and contract management. He is now signed up to join a big law firm
next year to go into private practice with Hogan Lovells. Law is constantly changing and Darryl finds the
situation both challenging and competitive.
Darryl has completed two post-graduate qualifications at the University of the Witwatersrand and will
complete four more this year, eventually converting these into a Masters degree. He will be specialising in
competition law, company law and labour law respectively.
Darryl feels that the time he spent at St David’s teaching helped him mature, refine his interpersonal skills,
improve his command of the English language. Without this he doubts that he would have had this
opportunity and potential for the future.
Darryl is still involved with MOBS and is passionate about his school although he probably won’t be able to
devote as much time to it as he would like in the future.
JLE March 2014

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Darryn Haltmann 2008

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  • 2013

Interview with Darryn Haltman – 2008
Darryn Haltmann came to St David’s in grade 4 and remembers the anxieties and excitement of
walking into the school leaving his mother and meeting his soon to be friends.
The teachers he remembers are Mr Rod Smith, Mrs Glanville, Mr Reichart, Mrs Fleming and
Mrs Marais.
He enjoyed the sport and played 1st team rugby and cricket and was involved with soccer and
athletics.
He was most unhappy when they lost any of their sports fixtures, but thoroughly enjoyed the
rugby tour to New Zealand and Australia.
Darryn participated in the Advanced Maths programme and felt it was especially helpful for both
1st and 2nd year Maths and Stats at university.
He is still in touch with a number of his school friends and they are all members of MOBS.
He is currently studying for a Bachelor of Business Science: finance and accounting at UCT. He
was awarded a faculty scholarship and has appeared on the Dean’s list and received the
Kopano award for academic excellence.
JE May 2013

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Duncan Hunter 2006

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  • Item
  • 2015

Interview with Duncan Hunter – 2006
Duncan’s first day at St David’s was in grade 4 and he remembers it as being completely different from his
previous school in that there was a feeling that excellence was important along with discipline. He found it
to be a rather overwhelming experience.
The best part of school for Duncan was having his mates with him most of the time, in class, during breaks
and then playing sport in the afternoons together. Duncan is still in contact with them and even now, almost
ten years later they all miss sitting on their specific bench in the quad during breaks. Other aspects he
enjoyed were all the sport on offer and the fact that his whole year was very much planned in advance by
somebody else. There was a lot less to worry about back then!
As with most boys, Duncan did not enjoy the homework and the studying for exams.
An occasion that stands out was the new boys “initiation” and prefects’ test that they did when they arrived
in the high school. Having to remember all the prefects’ names and various other random facts about the
school was, looking back, quite funny. Another weekly event the boys had when they were in matric was
the prefects’ assembly. Duncan can remember some of what was said being hysterical and probably not
repeatable! Another event which stood out was the time the boys travelled down to Durban for the Westville
gala over the Midmar weekend in 2002. They were quite out-classed at the time, but the schools’ swimming
went from strength to strength after they had seen the level they needed to be at to compete across the
country.
One of the funniest things the boys used to do at break at one stage during high school was to play an
interesting variation of soccer. The person who scored used to have to try to run away from everyone as
the aim was to all “pile on” the scorer. It made no sense then and still doesn’t but most of the grade used to
get involved. They also played various other versions of rugby and soccer throughout their time, most of
which were banned very quickly.
There were many teachers over the years that made lasting impressions. That is one of the qualities of the
staff at St David’s; they take a genuine interest in the boys they are teaching. In the prep school, Mrs
Everson made a lasting impression in terms of her guidance and some of the perspectives she shared. In
high school, Mrs Kennedy taught Duncan’s Maths class for three years and he ended up in her matric
class. She got to know the boys over the years and on top of being an excellent teacher she supported
them and gave them guidance when needed. On a personal level, Duncan was involved in tutoring Maths
classes during university which he felt was due to Mrs Kennedy.
Duncan swam and was in the A team swimming throughout prep and high school. He played water polo for
the 2nd team, rugby for the 2nd team and thought that the annual Midmar trip with the swimming team was
always memorable. The Ken Short Shield under 14 water polo tournament played in East London was also
a great trip. On a provincial level, Duncan was selected for the Gauteng lifesaving team.
Duncan was a prefect and deputy head of College house in 2006 and his twin brother was also prefect, so
two out of twelve wasn’t bad going for the Hunter family. Duncan received specific honours for academics
as well as general honours and also won various academic subject prizes over the years, the last being the
Maths prize in matric. He also received team awards for swimming and water polo.
Duncan remembers the last day of school quite clearly. He and the matrics organised a braai in the
morning in the quad to celebrate. One of the guys ended up bringing a whole bunch of chickens with him
that they let run around during the day. This was a great source of entertainment for all the boys. The same
day his twin brother, Malcolm climbed out of the window of Mrs Kennedy’s 2nd storey Maths classroom and
climbed down the side of the building. Mrs Kennedy got quite a surprise when Malcolm came back up and
knocked on the door asking to be let in!
After matriculating, Duncan went on to study Bachelor of Accounting Science at Wits University and then
completed the requirements for CA (SA) in 2013. He is currently a manager at PWC London in the
assurance practice.
Duncan is a member of MOBS and visits the school when he can.
JLE March 2015

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Frederick Barnard 1989

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  • 2014

Interview with Frederick Barnard – 1989
Frederick first came to St David’s in 1985, midway into standard 5 as his mother had moved to
Johannesburg from Cape Town. The religious aspect of a Catholic school was completely new to him
coming from SACHS, a large government school. The classes were much smaller, the boys had to line up
in the prep school quadrangle, it was mid-winter and very cold.
The teachers he recalled were Trudy Elliot, acting head between Boswell and Davies, she was a strong
teacher who Frederick liked and inspired him. She retired at the end of 1988. Also in the high school there
was Brian Webster who taught Science and Biology and who was the water-polo coach; Mr Hall; and
Father Brewer was very influential, everyone appreciated him as a fantastic human being. Frederick came
to his funeral in 1999. A number of the boys’ parents lived and worked on the school premises such as
Father Brewer, Brian Webster, Mr Finlayson, Mr Castle, the headmasters and the estate manager. Having
the teachers around was a good thing.
Another big influence in Frederick’s life was FatherTom Nicolson, based in Cape Town who led him through
his first holy communion, married him and has baptised Frederick’s children.
Frederick found that he thrived in a smaller community together with boys from different backgrounds which
included black children too. It was the first time that Frederick had encountered boys from other
backgrounds and different economic environments such as Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. The country
was not very stable during the late 80’s and some of the boys had problems getting to school and Fredrick
remembered offering Sophiso Ngwenya (the first black head boy) to stay with him. It was a family
community which was strong throughout his childhood years and even later on. It was such an influential
time in a child’s life and left a lasting impression on Frederick when he was trying to figure out who he was
and what he wanted in life. Frederick is still in close contact with many of the friends he made during this
time.
In retrospect, the religious aspect of the school also influenced and affected Frederick in different ways.
Some teachers also had the ability to inspire and motivate him. Frederick’s parents were not very much
involved with the school and some of his teachers became role models, which is very important in a child’s
development.
As the numbers were low, there were only two classes in matric, everyone participated no matter how good
they were. The school was very liberal in its approach and as to what was right and wrong. During the time
of the riots the school took the stance in what was believed to be fair and not along government lines.
In those days the school did retreats and socials at the Rosebank Convent and, whilst Frederick was in
standard 5, prefects’ tea still existed. There was huge respect for the older boys and all the boys underwent
an initiation in standard 6.
There were outreach activities in the prep school, in the high school, Frederick participated in debating, the
Stock Exchange Investment Game, was vice captain of Benedict house with Wayne Muller as captain, was
a member of the 1st team water-polo. He was awarded academic colours and received an Art prize in
standard 8, Heather Joseph was his Art teacher. In standard 9, Frederick remembers that receiving his
honours blazer from Trudy Elliott in assembly was very special and being made a prefect.
Frederick helped prepare for and attended the matric dance in standard 9 and again in his matric year. It
was a highlight and was held in the school hall which was decorated by the standard 9’s.
After matriculating, Frederick went to Wits University to study for a BComm Law and Business Finance. He
was also awarded a CFA – Chartered Financial Analyst (USA) which he did by correspondence. He then
went overseas and did an internship with UBS in Zurich and London. On his return to South Africa he
started to work in finance and now has offices in Switzerland and Johannesburg with his company Avance-
Suisse which was established in 2001.
All in all Frederick felt that the time he spent at St David’s was hugely influential and if he was living here he
would send his son to the school without any hesitation. Frederick instituted the MOBS water-polo team
first playing at the Wanderers and then St David’s.
JLE November 2014

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Gareth Kolkenbeck-Ruh 2003

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  • 2014

Interview with Gareth Kolkenbeck-Ruh – 2003
Gareth came to St David’s in 1999 from Rembrandt Park Primary School. Gareth’s father was a devout
catholic and Gareth had had experience of the school when it hosted various primary school sporting
events, and he liked what he saw.
He remembers that on his first day he was collected from the “Thatch” by prefects and taken to the
amphitheatre, he was overwhelmed by both the size of the prefects and that of the school. As he was the
only pupil coming from Rembrandt Park he didn’t know anyone but by the end of the day he began to fit it.
The grade 8 camp was a great ice breaker and initiative where he got to know everyone. After three days
the grade 8 boys went off to camp during their second week at St David’s. Belonging to a specific house
gave you an immediate identity and Gareth was selected for Osmond.
Initially the jump in academics was quite a shock but the teachers helped to make it manageable. It was at
first strange coming from a co-ed environment into a monastic one but by the end of the first term Gareth
was enjoying the change. He now firmly believes it to be a good thing to be in an all boys environment
during high school. He grew not only academically but learnt how to be a man in today’s society which he
appreciated enormously.
The teachers he remembers in particular are Shane Gaffney, Graeme McMillan who was at times quite
scary, Rod Smith, Colleen Kennedy and Paul Edey. They were good role models and one of the reasons
why Gareth has chosen teaching as his profession.
His last year as head boy was an unbelievable year as far as the sport was concerned. St David’s won the
Johnny Waite Cricket, had an unbeaten soccer side, and the rugby team beat KES and Jeppe on their
home territories for the first time. Gareth believes that, especially in a boys school, if the sport is going well
then the general school vibe reflects that and is good and positive.
Gareth had heard that the position of head boy was a lonely one, however he had massive support from his
peer group and, so far it was the most enjoyable year of his life. He had a good relationship with Paul Edey
and Malcolm Williams who took over the headship in 2003.
Gareth was captain of soccer and cricket teams and was awarded honours for soccer, cricket and general
honours.
He played provincial cricket U17 and U19 and had a professional contract with Wits University for one year
in 2003.
Academically, Gareth did very well and earned 3 A’s and 3 B’s in his matric. Dave Smith helped him to
catch up on the Geography syllabus in the matric year as Gareth needed the subject to enable him entry to
the USA. The teaching staff was always willing to go the extra mile for the boys. Gareth was awarded a
Champagnat Medal and won the Brother Edwin Award for Cricketer of the Year; the St David’s Marist old
Boys Soccer Trophy; the Desmond Schatz Trophy for Sportsman of the Year; the Old Boys Trophy for
Leadership and Promotion of the Marist Spirit and the Osmond Cup for study, sport and leadership.
After matriculating, Gareth went on a soccer scholarship to the US to Gannon University in Pennsylvania
for three and half years. He studied for a BA English and PGCE or Postgraduate Certificate in Education,
graduating Suma Cum Laude.. He was tempted to stay in the US but his family was still here in South
Africa and in the US the educational system is different and teachers don’t coach sport. He returned to
South Africa and taught English in the high school from 2008 -9 and went on to KES in 2010 and became
head of English there in 2012. He was appointed deputy head of the primary school at St David’s in 2014,
is learning a lot from Willy Castle with good systems in place.
Gareth was also instrumental in getting soccer up and running in the high school together with Shane
Gaffney in 2002 into 2003.
Gareth is an active member of MOBS .
JLE March 2014

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Gavin Muller 1987

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  • Item
  • 2012

Interview with Gavin Muller – 1987
Gavin, Billy Forsmann, Jan van den Handel and Jeremy Carr were together in the first grade 0
class. Gavin remembers that on his first day he was very traumatised and cried, wanting to
escape but by the second day he had accepted school as the way it had to be. His classroom
was where the original swimming pool was and where the current after care is now located.
Miss Busschau was his teacher and a relative of his mother who was also a Busschau.
Gavin enjoyed the sport in junior school playing soccer, he was a member of the swimming
team and couldn’t wait to start playing rugby in standard 5.
Academically he was very much middle of the road and the classes were defined by marks but
fortunately for him he made it into the bottom tier of the clever class. He remembered the
pressure and fear every exam time and not wanting to fail and be relegated to the B class. On
the cultural front, Gavin was a member of the cast in the production of Hamlet.
There were only about 300 boys in the school at the time and Mr Manolius was head of the
junior school and Brothers Bernhard and Timothy (who left the brotherhood and married a nun)
were still at the school. A teacher who had a great impact on him was Tim Kotze who taught
English and Afrikaans, he had a particularly high standard with regard to spelling and if you got
less than 15 out of 20 you were caned. Gavin spells well to this day! In standard 6 Mrs
Bulterman was the French teacher, very attractive, quite gorgeous in fact and, before she came
to the school none of the boys chose French. Needless to say that situation changed and whilst
she was there all the boys signed up for French! Cedric Finlayson was a brutal, most violent
man who taught History and Physical Education and was the rugby coach. Gavin was physically
beaten up by him on more than one occasion but he still didn’t mind him that much. Gavin
enjoyed Trudy Elliott, English teacher and recalled that Tom Macfaden taught the wrong History
syllabus in matric and when this was discovered, all the boys had to cram for the last 3 to 4
weeks. There was no control over the teachers, they did what they wanted to and there was no
leadership.
The teaching of Religious Education was split into Catholics and non-Catholics about 50/50.
There was a class every day, mass was held once a week and confessions regularly. The boys
used to make up confessions to check that Father Plestus was still awake. A big scandal at the
time was the non-catholic boys RE retreat to Hartbeespoort was a disaster when the boys
absconded and many were caught with alcohol.
Gavin played 1st team rugby, was captain of the swimming team and played water polo and is
still friends with his team members to this day. The best thing Gavin took from high school was
the camaraderie amongst the boys. They often used to play both A and B team rugby matches
back to back. The bonds were strong between the friends of that era due to the lack of adult
leadership. Gavin became a prefect and Billy Forsmann, head boy.
For the matric dance, which was great fun, the standard 9’s did all the art work and decorations
and were the waiters who used to make money by smuggling alcohol into the venue. On their
last day he recalls that the boys had a big party that night.
It was a disastrous and unstable time for the high school with leadership issues following the
appointment of Mr Murphy as headmaster of the high school followed shortly by Mr Freilick then
Mr Boswell.
Gavin matriculated with a university entrance and studied building science at Wits University.
He then did a post graduate course at the University of Pretoria followed by the UCT Graduate
School of Business but ended up working in the banking environment for 12 years. He then
went into property and has run his own business for the past 3 years.
He is the father of 3 daughters who attended Brescia House.
He hasn’t really kept in touch with the school at all although his father was a member of the
board of governors, and a member of MOBS as were his brothers Brian(80) and Graham (82)
who subsequently emigrated.
Gavin would buy a copy of the book and would be willing to pledge a contribution beforehand.
JLE May 2012

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Gavin Muller 1987

  • ZA ZAR STDS 202000783
  • Item
  • 2012

Interview with Gavin Muller – 1987
Gavin, Billy Forsmann, Jan van den Handel and Jeremy Carr were together in the first grade 0
class. Gavin remembers that on his first day he was very traumatised and cried, wanting to
escape but by the second day he had accepted school as the way it had to be. His classroom
was where the original swimming pool was and where the current after care is now located.
Miss Busschau was his teacher and a relative of his mother who was also a Busschau.
Gavin enjoyed the sport in junior school playing soccer, he was a member of the swimming
team and couldn’t wait to start playing rugby in standard 5.
Academically he was very much middle of the road and the classes were defined by marks but
fortunately for him he made it into the bottom tier of the clever class. He remembered the
pressure and fear every exam time and not wanting to fail and be relegated to the B class. On
the cultural front, Gavin was a member of the cast in the production of Hamlet.
There were only about 300 boys in the school at the time and Mr Manolius was head of the
junior school and Brothers Bernhard and Timothy (who left the brotherhood and married a nun)
were still at the school. A teacher who had a great impact on him was Tim Kotze who taught
English and Afrikaans, he had a particularly high standard with regard to spelling and if you got
less than 15 out of 20 you were caned. Gavin spells well to this day! In standard 6 Mrs
Bulterman was the French teacher, very attractive, quite gorgeous in fact and, before she came
to the school none of the boys chose French. Needless to say that situation changed and whilst
she was there all the boys signed up for French! Cedric Finlayson was a brutal, most violent
man who taught History and Physical Education and was the rugby coach. Gavin was physically
beaten up by him on more than one occasion but he still didn’t mind him that much. Gavin
enjoyed Trudy Elliott, English teacher and recalled that Tom Macfaden taught the wrong History
syllabus in matric and when this was discovered, all the boys had to cram for the last 3 to 4
weeks. There was no control over the teachers, they did what they wanted to and there was no
leadership.
The teaching of Religious Education was split into Catholics and non-Catholics about 50/50.
There was a class every day, mass was held once a week and confessions regularly. The boys
used to make up confessions to check that Father Plestus was still awake. A big scandal at the
time was the non-catholic boys RE retreat to Hartbeespoort was a disaster when the boys
absconded and many were caught with alcohol.
Gavin played 1st team rugby, was captain of the swimming team and played water polo and is
still friends with his team members to this day. The best thing Gavin took from high school was
the camaraderie amongst the boys. They often used to play both A and B team rugby matches
back to back. The bonds were strong between the friends of that era due to the lack of adult
leadership. Gavin became a prefect and Billy Forsmann, head boy.
For the matric dance, which was great fun, the standard 9’s did all the art work and decorations
and were the waiters who used to make money by smuggling alcohol into the venue. On their
last day he recalls that the boys had a big party that night.
It was a disastrous and unstable time for the high school with leadership issues following the
appointment of Mr Murphy as headmaster of the high school followed shortly by Mr Freilick then
Mr Boswell.
Gavin matriculated with a university entrance and studied building science at Wits University.
He then did a post graduate course at the University of Pretoria followed by the UCT Graduate
School of Business but ended up working in the banking environment for 12 years. He then
went into property and has run his own business for the past 3 years.
He is the father of 3 daughters who attended Brescia House.
He hasn’t really kept in touch with the school at all although his father was a member of the
board of governors, and a member of MOBS as were his brothers Brian(80) and Graham (82)
who subsequently emigrated.
Gavin would buy a copy of the book and would be willing to pledge a contribution beforehand.
JLE May 2012

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Glynn O'Leary 1969

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  • 2010

Interview with Glynn O’Leary 1969 1960 – 1969 Standard 1 to Matric
Glynn did not enjoy the first few days of each school year as the family always went to the coast
for the long holidays and he hated leaving the sea behind (living in Glencairn now he sees the
sea all the time!)
He was a day boy and clearly remembers Mrs Januscz, Mrs Knezovich and Mrs Kempster. His
parents separated when he was in standard 4 and finally divorced in standard 6. His academics
took a dip as a result. Br Anthony sent for him and asked him if he was happy at St David’s to
which he answered yes. His father had contacted the school to withdraw Glynn from the school
stating that he could not afford to keep him at St David’s due to financial reasons. From that day
on his mother never had to pay school fees and he received all his books and school uniform
from the Brothers.
Glynn played 1st Team cricket and played in the 13th Marist cricket week held at St David’s as
wicket keeper. On the very first day of the competition a ball split his lip open while keeping
wicket which put paid to him playing again in the event. He also played 2nd Team rugby.
Brothers were strict and one evening Br Andrew (Dracula) caught the boys painting the other
boys with black boot polish as part of the initiation of new boys. Errol McCawley was caught and
was told to go back and fetch all the other boys who were involved. Errol did not enjoy this as Br
Andrew gave the boys cuts with a chain.
Glynn’s father never watched him play sport at school and that is why he and his wife Gill have
made sure that they have been there to support their 3 children as far as humanly possible.
The Marist Brothers have always played an important part in his life and he was made an
honorary Marist Brother in 2009 which was a great honour for him.
He has been involved with the Marist Brothers since 1957 and was chairman of the Marist old
boys in 1983 and served on the St David’s board of governors from 1985 to 1986. He has been
a member of the Marist School’s Council since 1997 and is chairman of St Joseph’s Marist
College in Rondebosch at present.
While at school Glynn was friendly with Dave Bergman and his brother Clive (better known as
Clive Bruce).
As regards Br Mario – we need to find out from him what happened when Br went horse
racing!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Interview: 13 October 2010

Anderson, Glenda

Interview with Gordon Tonetti

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  • 2014

Interview with Gordon Tonetti – 1986
Gordon came to St David’s in 1974 going into grade 1 in the same classroom where Carol Ansell now
teaches. Carol taught him together with Heather Joseph, Willy Castle, Mrs Schaafsma and Mrs Napier. Mrs
Napier who taught him in standard 2 to 3 would throw her blackboard duster at you if you talked in class.
Gordon admits to belonging to a naughty crowd, didn’t do much studying and was often jacked by Willy
Castle and Terry O’Mahoney. In fact the boys used to compete to see who got the most jacks! Mr Murphy
was the headmaster in standard 6 but didn’t last long and Br Anthony came back for a term before Mr
Frielick was appointed. Gordon’s group was the smallest matric group in years.
Gordon’s father was a former pupil of St David’s and vice head boy matriculating in 1954, and Gordon’s
grandfather attended a Marist school overseas. His father recalled when at the age of 6, he was put on a
train in Barberton and was told he would be met by one of the Brothers at the Johannesburg station. He
arrived but no-one was there to meet him, eventually a policeman spotted him and asked him why he was
there alone. The policeman called his family in Barberton who then contacted the school and at long last
one of the Brothers arrived to collect him.
Gordon was a good sportsman and was awarded 5 scrolls for athletics and rugby and captained a few
teams . He played 1st team rugby throughout his high school career and was a member of the A and B
swimming teams, but didn’t play cricket. In standard 5 the school had a strong rugby team but sadly many
of its members left and went to St John’s whilst Br Timothy was headmaster. Gordon loved the athletics
and the long distance running, he held the long distance record in his time and regrets not having been
pushed further as he could have done a lot better. He has started running again recently.
Mark Reeves’s sister was a swimming coach, a tough battleaxe and Mrs Mah, another coach would see a
storm coming up but wouldn’t let the boys leave the pool. On one occasion lightening struck where the
clock tower now stands, hitting a line of wattle trees, a third of one tree was split and came crashing down.
Mrs Mah screamed like crazy to get the boys out of the pool.
He recalled that if a fight started in the playground during break the boys would move the fight to the 1st
team rugby field but as soon as the boys saw any teachers they all disappeared.
When sport finished Gordon would use the tickey (phone) box, call his home and just say “pick up”, put the
phone down immediately and thus had the call for free. The schooling was different back then and Gordon
wasn’t awarded an honours blazer but was given an open scroll for athletics in standard 9.
Sondiwe Nyirenda and his brother were enrolled in 1975 as the first black boys in the school. A good
sportsman, he and Gordon became good friends but they sadly lost touch after he left in standard 5.
Gordon’s younger brother Trevor was sent from St David’s to CBC Pretoria as Gordon had a run in with
Trudy Elliott.
Gordon was academically average but enjoyed his school career. In high school Gordon was taught by P.
Collier, Ms Howard, Mr Moore, Mr Kaliphy, Mr McFadden and Br Ephrem taught Science. Father Brewer
was the chaplain, a very nice man who was very involved with the boys.
Gordon remembers an Afrikaans camp in standard 4 and a camp at Golden Gate in standard 5. In standard
9 there was the religious camp but because of problems with the non-catholic camp at Hartbeespoort the
catholic boys camp was very controlled and not much fun.
Gordon regrets the fact that corporal punishment is no longer allowed and felt that it played a significant
role in the discipline of the boys.
As it was an all boy’s school the boys had no contact with girls except for every two years when they
participated in a school play with St Teresa’s. Nowadays the boys aren’t as awkward around girls as they
were then.
After matriculating, Gordon attended the technikon for a diploma in engineering, which involved studying for
6 months and working for 6 months. After gaining his diploma he did his military service and then went
overseas for a couple of years. On his return he bought his business from his father. It was a very shaky
period for the business at the time but he pulled it through and the company did well.
Gordon is married to Helen and his son Liam attends St David’s, currently in grade 5. Gordon wasn’t too
sure about the school but Rick Wilson convinced him it was the school for his sons. The school has
changed a lot for the better from the time Gordon was a pupil.
Gordon is a member of MOBS and is currently a member of the MOBS committee.
JLE November 2014
NB Gordon has photos from his father’s time at the school in the 50’s

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Jason Simaan 2003

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  • 2013

Interview with Jason Simaan - 2003
Jason’s father Antoine is also an old boy of St David’s and the son of Nassey Simaan. His father travels a
lot on business especially to the Far East for his company World Agencies which he started in 1983.
Jason came to St David’s in 1990, grade 0 and Mrs Walton was his teacher. He thinks he cried on the way
to school but made his first friend of the same name, Jason Metcalfe.
Jason enjoyed the prep school, was not a great sportsman but played cricket and soccer and participated
in tennis and athletics. He was more of a scholar then and won all the English and Afrikaans declamations
and trophies in standard 5. He was good at and enjoyed public speaking which he owes to the instruction
and guidance of Mrs Sandy who taught English in standard 2, she tutored him well. Jason won public
speaking competitions all the way through to high school. Sadly Mrs Sandy had a stroke and eventually
passed away. Jason was also a member of the mini city council an experience which he enjoyed, helping
people, meeting pupils from other schools and of course the public speaking.
Jason’s cousin, Gareth Simaan matriculated in 1998 and unfortunately Jason was tarred with the same
brush with some teachers such as Mr Andrews who taught Biology. Jason knew nearly all the matrics being
related also to Stephan Contardo, they were terrifying and the discipline was fierce but the boys were
intimidated in a good way. Jason was also good friends with Andrew Castle, Willy Castle’s son. Jason still
calls him “Sir”.
The standard 6 Glenwood camp was tough with all the new guys and seemed a bit like a concentration
camp. However the boys learnt a lot about themselves and the St David’s ethos and pulled together team
building. Rod Smith was always epic on that camp with a great rivalry between the Osmond and Bishops
boys.
There was a complete turnaround in Jason’s life when he reached high school as he concentrated more on
sport and the academics took a back seat. He went from being one of the top 3 to 21st. He was a member
of the 1st team water polo from standard 8, 1st team rugby from standard 9. For him the 1st rugby team was
the ultimate, the black and gold, the prestige and camaraderie. Memories of the prayers before a match
and then walking down to the field, still gives him goose bumps to this day. In 2003 the school had a really
good team beating KES, 16 - 3 for the first time in 52 years, with Neil Le Roux scoring the winning try. On
that particular day, a midweek match, away at KES, all the other St David’s teams, rugby, hockey had been
beaten and then they won. Jason recalled the three best rugby years for St David’s were 1972, 1995 and
2003.
Other noteworthy occasions were winning the Johnny Waite cricket in 2003, the first cricket side to do so.
The cricket team did well that year as did the hockey team and the water polo team was the first to
compete against other schools and Kyle Biller was captain of the swimming team. The matrics liked to
believe that they were the pioneers creating the legacy that Gareth Kolkenbeck-Ruh had talked about.
Jason is still in touch with many of his former schoolmates; friendship was and still is very important to him.
Among them are Rob Smith, Chris Marsay, Sean Schoombie and Danilo Giacovazzi. James Reeves and
Farhaan Williams were always the top academics.
The matric Dance was spectacular with the theme of Mardi Gras. Jason and the pupils always enjoyed the
Guy Fawkes evening at St David’s, believing it to be the best in town and looked forward to that and the
Saturday sporting fixtures. The rugby tour to Argentina that year was a spectacular event with the boys
winning all their games whilst being exposed to a different culture.
The teachers he remembers well are Willy Castle, Rick Wilson, Paul Edey and Julie Roman who was his
favourite and he always went to seek her advice when he had “issues”. Simon Fry was Jason’s History
teacher, house master and U16A rugby coach. Jason always did well in History as Simon made it so
interesting. He recalls that Simon always wrote on the board in capital letters.
Gareth Kolkenbeck-Ruh was the head boy, he was really good and captain of the cricket and soccer teams.
In his first speech as head boy he told the boys that “We are here to create a legacy” and that they certainly
did. Jason was a prefect and deputy head of house,The Bishops. He was awarded an honours blazer, full
colours for water polo, leadership and merit.
On the last day of school, the matrics were ready with their water balloons, but were foiled by Marius Buys,
who realised what they were up to. He confiscated the balloons and then threw them back at them. They
had a farewell breakfast and were full of mixed emotions, signing shirts and wondering what was coming
next. Humility, simplicity and respect were hammered into the boys and they never forget “Comfortare Esto
Vir” “Take Courage and be a Man”.
After matriculating, Jason studied a BComm Marketing at Wits University but dropped out after 8months as
his Maths wasn’t strong and he should rather have studied for a BA Sports Science. He then worked in the
motor spares industry for 1 ½ years but it wasn’t for him and went on to become a sales rep for his uncle
Andy Simaan at RMS. That didn’t work out and for 6months he was basically unemployed until Gareth
Simaan asked him what he was going to do. The following day he left for Mozambique with Gareth at 3am
and spent the next 8 months at Vilanculos learning to run the business, in at the deep end. There was no
internet and it was an entirely different and isolated environment. He then went onto the Ivory Tree a five
star hotel in the Pilansberg as beverage manager, then Shepherds Tree as a general manager. He spent 4
-5 years learning the hospitality industry. Together with his sister Candyce, who runs the financial side of
the business he started Andiccio 24 in 2011 running the operational side of the business.
Jason is a member of MOBS and would definitely send any sons to St David’s.
JLE November 2013

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Jean-Paul Renouprez 1990

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  • 2014

Interview with Jean-Paul Renouprez – 1990
Jean-Paul came to St David’s in 1979 in grade 1 in Mrs Scaafsma’s class. Jean-Paul recalls she was a
combination of a battle axe and enforcer of the law being very strict with a good memory. Jean-Paul’s son
started his career at St David’s in grade 1 in the very same classroom.
As Jean-Paul suffered from bad asthma, he was not that good at sport and it wasn’t a big feature in his life
at that time, He played some soccer, was thrown into the baby pool and learnt to swim. There was he
recalls, a pecking order in the cricket practices which were held where the hockey field is now. He wasn’t
very competitive but remembers participating in the prep standard 5, inter-house general knowledge quiz.
He remembered Willy Castle and playing in an U7 D soccer match under threat. Mr Manolius was the prep
school headmaster, Mr Coetzee his standard 5 teacher who had a big, booming voice, Mrs Hurley taught
Music and organised the nativity plays in which Jean-Paul took part, Heather Joseph taught Art and Mr
Bronkhorst was the sports teacher for the C and D teams who took him under his wing, positioning him as
the goalkeeper.
Jean-Paul has memories of racing down to the tuck shop near the present D & T centre to buy some food
before it sold out.
On entering the high school, Jean-Paul had overcome his problem with asthma and made the 3rd team in
rugby, C and D teams for cricket and was a member of the swimming team.
Mr Olivier was a Maths teacher who made a difference; The Computer Science teacher and class teacher,
Mr Schafer died during his matric year; Mr Webster was the sports master and class master during
standard 6 and 7 and took great delight in holding water-polo practices in the unheated swimming pool
during August. Mr Finlayson was the History teacher and coached 1st team rugby, sport and PE, he was a
former Springbok, Zimbabwean squash player was absolutely feared in the high school and no-one wanted
to be in Benedict house. Jean-Paul enjoyed Religious Instruction which led the Brothers to, at one stage
believe that he may become a Brother. He enjoyed a trip to Slough meeting Br Anthony and used to help
make soup in the kitchen at St David’s .Mr Davies was the headmaster from 1989 until his matric but Mr
Murphy stands out as Jean-Paul was involved in a fund raising drive which entailed licking envelopes and
Mr Murphy told the boys that the resin was made from Camel’s hooves.
Richard Girdwood took over from Trudy Elliot in 1989 and Jean-Paul enjoyed helping with special effects
with various productions such as Hamlet and Julius Caesar and got in a lot of practice setting up lighting
and building sets in the area now occupied by the high school library. He was also involved with some
acting roles and put together a play for Osmond house for the inter-house plays competition. He also took
part in inter-house debating which he enjoyed. Apart from that he really enjoyed the war cries and attending
1st team rugby matches. A memorable and proud moment for Jean-Paul was when his uncle, a former
rugby Springbok and leading businessman, was asked to address the school at the prize giving ceremony.
A month into his matric year, Jean-Paul, together with Denis O’Regan was appointed a prefect and was
awarded a Champagnat Medal at the annual prize giving.
On their last day one of the boys went off in his car and brought back ciders which some of the boys drank
at the back of the pool. Jean-Paul went to the matric dances in standard 11 and in his matric year.
After matriculating Jean-Paul went on to study engineering at Wits University. Working for Altech he made
detonators for the mining industry, was active on the regulatory committee at Wits and in 1999 studied fulltime
for an MBA at UCT. He then spent 4 years with Dimension Data followed by a period in the
pharmaceutical industry and joined South African Breweries in 2007. He has four different roles within
operations and logistics management and is involved with packaging at the Newlands and Rosslyn
Breweries.
Jean-Paul felt that school was a good place, a safe place to be and gave him a special grounding. He
wasn’t particularly good at anything but would repeat his school career again. He is married and has a son
currently in Grade at St David’s, is a member of MOBS and is a member of the MOBS committee.
JLE March 2014

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with John Hilton 1997

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  • 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

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with John Slaven 1979

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  • 2013

Interview with John Slaven – 1979
John came to St David’s in standard 1 and recalled his first day, assembled in the quad
where the chapel now stands, in his new school uniform and Mrs Watson was his teacher.
His classroom was in the current CEO’s house.
John came from Northcliff Primary and had not been taught cursive writing and was only
used to using a pencil, he battled but learnt by watching the other boys. Mrs Watson was a
fierce teacher, there was no nurturing and he was one a very few new boys.
John enjoyed being a day boy and having his own space at home, however his older brother
Andrew would have loved to have been a boarder. He was a great sportsman and would
have benefited from all the training before and after school and at weekends. John initially
took the bus to school but eventually sometimes cycled.
John remembered Br Anthony who maintained a good balance with discipline. Br Timothy
however had a fierce temper and didn’t have the same presence as Br Anthony. John liked
Br Timothy but thought he was very isolated and under pressure from the board of
governors. The board was very distant to the school which John’s father realised when he
joined the board after his sons had left the school.
John played sport all the way through school but was not good enough for the soccer team
in primary school. He played cricket mostly for the 2nd’s which he enjoyed as he had the
chance to participate more, to bat and bowl more often than he did in the 1st team in his
matric year. Although he didn’t think his cricket was that great he was elected captain of the
2nd team cricket. John also played rugby starting in the U12 team which competed against
other schools as the U13C’s and managed to beat everyone. This team remained intact and
continued to win through to the U15’s. It was a special team with Brian Walter, centre, an
American, who was big and fast (he left in 1977), and Mike Peel, scrum half. Rugby was like
a religion in the school and early on Monday mornings Br Timothy would put up an
assessment of the weekend’s games and would give players stars 1 – 5 for their
performance. The whole school could see this and Br Timothy didn’t hold back with his
comments. Andrew Driver was an exchange student from the UK, a good athlete and rugby
player, winger, who stayed with David Kalk. John was best man at David’s wedding and
David’s son is his godson.
From standard 9 to matric, John played 1st team rugby and was made captain and rugby
player of the year. Losing to KES 2nd team in 1978 was a huge blow. Peter Swanson
(Springbok) was their rugby coach for a while and, before a game against Observatory he
brought along his Springbok blazer and motivated the team, he was a great inspiration. John
also played water polo occasionally for the A team, he wasn’t great but enjoyed it.
The annual inter-house gala was a great evening event with the boys shouting their war
cries, with their rosettes and decorations spurring on their respective teams. Cross country
was really more of a road run in those days.
John’s brother Geoff was an equestrian and went with the school team to Heddingly, he was
a top horse rider for a year or two.
John also joined in the cultural aspect of the school and played the role of “Herod” in the
school play “The Business of Good Government”.
The matric dance was always the highlight of the year. The boys were given a week off to
prepare the hall, coping with all the designs and implementation. They organised everything,
the invitations, table decorations, photographers, the theme being “Gangsters”. The boys
worked all day and then went to the Spur for supper and came back to continue. On the
Saturday night there was a band, the girlfriends and the food and drink. It was such a fun
week and only for the matrics and the standard 9, 1st team rugby.
There were some good teachers who really stood out – Mr Lipschitz, Maths who became
more of a friend, almost like a big brother who managed to make his subject interesting. Bill
Carew, standard 7 -8, Science, he was fantastic, able to explain things and had a way that
fascinated the boys. He once took them on a field expedition to the Northern Transvaal. Mrs
Landau taught Biology and although she had a more formal relationship with the boys, she
made this subject interesting and it eventually became John’s best and favourite subject.
Mrs Napier, standard 2 was very strict but also friendly but the boys knew their boundaries.
She once caught John cribbing and gave him a caning with her heavy ruler..
John went on a couple of camps, hiking in the Eastern Transvaal where they stayed in
hostels overnight. Ben Claasens, the Afrikaans teacher had a farm near Krugersdorp with a
dam and horses and he ran a camp for a week for the boys to get an Afrikaans immersion.
There were no outreach programmes in John’s time.
Academically John did well and was first in his class (27 in matric) most of the time and, for
his matric he achieved 5 distinctions. John participated in debating, senior best speakers,
was managing director of the stock exchange game, was in the athletics team. Captain of
Osmond house was elected head prefect and awarded scrolls for merit, studies, debating
and rugby. He was awarded an honours blazer and academic tie, Brother Pius Medals for
Biology and Physical Science and won the Osmond Cup for Leadership.
However, John says he was no angel and often got into trouble and on one occasion in
matric Br Timothy decided he needed to go home for a few days.
On leaving school, John studied Mechanical Engineering at UCT, followed by 2 years
national service in the navy. He became officer in charge of materials with a laboratory in
Simonstown and was the top naval officer candidate. He then went on to work for De Beers,
Industrial Diamond Division for 4 years as they had given him a bursary whilst at UCT. He
then went to the Harvard Business School to do his MBA afterwards joining Boston
Consulting Group for 10 years becoming a partner He then joined Alcoa in New York for 3
years and a year in China, followed by an appointment with BHP Billiton for whom he has
worked in Melbourne, Perth Australia and is currently vice president business development,
minerals exploration based in Singapore and about to move to Perth. John led BHP Billiton
sustainability function with extensive programmes to improve long term sustainability of
aboriginal groups,
John is married with 3 daughters.
John is a member of MOBS and would be more than happy to address an assembly on one
of his business trips to South Africa.
JLE June 2013

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Mark Di Pasquale 2002

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  • 2013

Interview with Mark Di Pasquale –2002
Mark came to St David’s in 1998 and being a new kid on the block knew no one which he found
uncomfortable especially with so many of the boys coming up from the prep school. However he
ended up being friends with the prep boys as opposed to those who came from other feeder
schools. Living just down the road meant he could walk to school which was a big plus and he
could attend other extra mural activities outside of school.
Mark enjoyed the sports and all the facilities, was in the 1st team for hockey and A team
swimming and was captain of the swimming and hockey teams. He was selected for the
Gauteng provincial team for swimming and hockey.. He also enjoyed athletics and water polo.
He enjoyed his time at St David’s but didn’t feel it really prepared him for life as a resident at
university with no formal homework sessions that boarders have which mirror tuts at university.
Although programmes in Maths were available he did not take them although he now realises
that this would have been helpful. He felt there wasn’t as much camaraderie as there would
have been at a boarding school.
Mark was a prefect and was awarded specific honours for modern biathlon. His memory of his
last day at St David’s was being excited as the school had provided him with the confidence to
go out and contribute to society and to be recognised as an adult.
After matriculating with a distinction in Accounting,, Mark went on to study at the University of
Johannesburg, B Comm (Hons) Accounting, he then qualified as a CA (Sa) and is a CFA
(Chartered Financial Analyst). He is currently working as the chief financial officer for a listed
property fund.
He is still friends with Steven Cory and is a member of MOBS.
JLE May 2013

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Mark Forssman 1979

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  • 2012

Interview with Mark Forssman – 1979
Mark was the first of the Forssman family to attend St David’s followed by his brother Bobby –
1980; Andrew – 1983 and cousins Billy -1987 (head boy); Jason – 1989 (deputy head boy);
Dale - (deputy head boy); Jordan -1996 – (head boy); Mark’s sons Tim – 2004 and Chris –

  1. Currently pupils at the school are Adrian, Andrew’s son; Blake cousin’s son; Aidan, Billy’s
    son and then Jason’s son.
    Mark started in grade 1 in 1968, although he doesn’t remember his first day he certainly
    remembers his brother’s as he relieved himself during line up! Mark said they had been brought
    up running free, no shoes and playing on the family plot and he does recall that wearing shoes
    was a bit of a problem to begin with.
    Mark remembers teachers, such as Mrs Napier; standard 2, Mrs Schaafsma; Mrs Kempster and
    Mrs Kenezovitch who played the organ at his wedding. During his time there were still brothers
    at the school, Br Anthony, Br Timothy, Br Bosco (Mario), Br Bernard, Br Aidan, Br Plesters who
    was involved with the gardens. Trudy Elliott was a fantastic teacher and quite a character; Mrs
    Klaasens – Afrikaans; Mr Neft; Mrs Lipschitz – Maths and water polo coach now living in
    Australia; Sally Saunderson; William Smith – Science; Mr Vahey- Geography and Mr Lobo who
    was Spanish. Mark recalled Peter Springer, Peter Habertson, a sports teacher who for some
    reason disliked Mark, made life difficult for him and ensured that he wasn’t included in the 1st
    team rugby photo even though he had played for the team on 5 occasions and Peter Swanson
    who was an international Irish rugby player and the rugby coach.
    Mark remembers when he was in junior school that he and some friends were tormenting a boy
    near the road that ran between the junior and high schools. Br Anthony spotted them and called
    them into his office. They shuffled in and Br Anthony, looking enormous stood there with his big
    cane which he flexed against a chair giving them stern looks, they were terrified but he
    eventually told them to get out and never to tease any other boys again.
    In the junior school Mark was involved with swimming, athletics, soccer and tennis and standard
    5, U13 rugby. He won the junior school tennis championships but never played again after that.
    The boys were more or less forced to participate in cross country and they used to try all sorts
    to get out of it! In the high school he played rugby, water polo, swam and was the B team
    swimming captain and captain of the 2nd rugby team. He was awarded a scroll for water polo,
    studies, merit and became a prefect. With 3 scrolls one was awarded an honours blazer of
    which he was very proud.
    Mark recalls boys hiding in the auditorium under the chairs and that going to sport events in the
    old school bus was great fun. Disco’s were held in the basement room next to the tuck shop to
    raise funds for the matric dance. These often ended up in chaos. Mark was a bit of a renegade
    as his father used to organise a bus for him and his friends, Mark would set up a shebeen and
    bought the booze from the compound.
    Culturally there wasn’t much happening, no camps or anything special like that at the time.
    The matric dance was held in the dining room with an Al Capone, gangster theme. The standard
    8’s were the waiters. The standard 9’s decorated the room and were allowed to join in. Mark
    remembers that the after party was held at Deon De Gouveia’s house which was across the
    road from the school.
    Academically Mark was average but a consistent student and achieved 6 C’s for matric. After
    leaving St David’s he studied at Wits University but had a bad motorcycle accident on the first
    day, missed three months and subsequently pulled out after the second three months. He
    continued the second year but again pulled out, went into the army and eventually signed up on
    the permanent force and became an air traffic controller from 1982 – 1987. Through various
    circumstances he became involved in building and construction and now has his own company.
    Many boys in Mark’s time left the country and others including a good friend who died fighting
    on the border. It was a strange time which affected everybody. Things started to come right in
    the mid- 80’s and Tim was born in 1986.
    Mark organised an Argus ride in memory of Justin Bessler – the JB Express consisting of 120
    cyclists raised R265 000 for CHOC. It was Justin’s dream to beat cancer and to ride the Argus
    and raise funds for CHOC.
    JLE April 2012

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Mark Reeves 1983

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  • 2016

Interview with Mark Reeves – 1983
Mark began his school career at St David’s in 1973, starting in standard 1, after moving from
Sandown Primary which was located where Sandton City now stands. At the age of 5, he
remembers being the swimming team mascot for College house at the inter-house gala,
dressed as a sword bearing sheik. The aftercare is now situated where this swimming pool once
was located.
He has fond memories of Miss Joseph, Miss Jamieson (Ansell), Mrs Anderson, Mrs Scaafsma
and Mrs Napier, all of whom taught him in junior school. Mrs Kempster was headmistress and
had a crooked index finger, causing confusion as to who she was actually pointing at, while you
were being scolded.
The brothers were still very active in teaching and coaching sport at this time. Mark remembers
being taught at some stage of his senior years by Brother’s Timothy, Bernard, Richard,
Christopher and Anthony. Senior school was where you gained your foundation and became
part of the Marist family.
Memorable advice came from Br Anthony when he said “Do not feel guilty for your privileged
lives, because if it wasn’t for compassionate and generous privileged people the poor would
have nothing”.
Strong teachers like Brother Anthony, Mr Collier, Mr Boswell, Mrs Elliot and Mr McFadden,
made a huge impact on those senior school years. Mark remembers Mr Collier, a remarkable
teacher and coach, who was very religious and well respected by all the boys, especially for his
caring attitude to all. He took them on retreat to Kuruman where Br Anthony and Br Christopher
hosted the boys during school holidays.
During the last two years of Mark’s schooling career at St David’s he had 3 Headmasters, Mr
Murphy, Br Anthony and Mr Frielick. Mr Murphy was a tower of a man and his wrestling career
was the best kept secret amongst the boys. Mark recalls lifting Mr Murphy above his head at
rugby trials in standard 9 and was rewarded with a place in the 1st rugby team for his effort. Tim
Marnewick was chairman of the school board of governors and a strong supporter of the Marist
community.
Classmates who he remembers well are Peter Wharton-Hood, an intellectual genius, who often
assisted the teachers after proving them wrong and who also was a talented sportsman.
Duncan Senior, who mirrored these attributes. Andrew Forsmann, a great all rounder, and the
long line of Forsmann’s who attended St David’s and who owned Kyalami Ranch, a memorable
recreational facility for them all.
He remembers Karl Ortel, who during his matric year at St. David’s fought 20 fights in 21 days
to win the Golden Gloves World Boxing Tournament. Corado Annicello who achieved Springbok
colours in judo. Kamsisi Nyirenda, the Malawian ambassador’s son, who in the black & white
class photo, due to his dark complexion, blended into the background with only his white teeth,
the white of his eye’s and collar visible. Solly Maponya,who had a BMW in standard 6 and who
was a great driver, especially to parties. Other good friends who are now very successful
businessmen include Sven Retzlaff and Roy Perlman, property developers, Mark Atier a cellular
industry entrepreneur, Mark Rosewitz a top legal adviser and Jason Askew, who has become a
famous Anglo-Boer war artist. “There are so many success stories of individual classmates from
his year and he is very proud to have been associated with them all”..
Mark was honoured to have been elected as head prefect in 1983. He was captain of the school
swimming and water polo teams, and was captain of College House. He was awarded colours
for rugby, swimming and water polo, and received a merit scroll for leadership. He played 1st
team rugby and was a member of the athletics team, for field events, but banned from hurdles
for breaking multiple crossbars! He also received an academic scroll and a distinction for History
in matric
After leaving St David’s Mark studied a BA in Education and together with his brother, Alan, also
head prefect of St. David’s in 1977, started a well known photographic business. They have had
the good fortune of working together for over 33 years and are now involved in multiple building
hardware and paint retail outlets.
Mark served St. David’s on the board of governors, was chairman of the development
committee and an active member of the PTA. He still serves as a member of the old boys
committee. Mark is married to Carol-Anne and has a son Stephen and daughter Kirsty.
JLE May 2016

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Martin Rumpelt 1973

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  • 2013

Interview with Martin Rumpelt – 1973
Martin came to St David’s from the German School Johannesburg in standard 6. His parents were not too
happy with the lack of discipline at the German School and the fact that matric would have to be written in
English when all the teaching was given through the medium of German. Father Paulsen was a family friend
and he recommended St David’s as an alternative. Martin had an older brother Thomas who also attended St
David’s matriculating in 1972, he currently lives in Germany.
Martin had been given a tour of the school the year before he arrived and had met the brothers but was, none
the less nervous on his first day. He knew a couple of boys from Cubs and Scouts one of whom was Vincent
O’Mahoney which made life a little easier. Br Anthony was headmaster at the time and he remembered some
of the other Brothers – Br Andrew (Drac) so called because he drew blood when he caned the boys. He was
Spanish and regarded all the boys as spoilt brats and that he was the equaliser; Br Bernard- very artistic and
had a darkroom downstairs below the Science block; Br Mario who still visits Martin’s mother; Br Timothy (Tin
Man) who was the rugby coach for all the 1st teams and a super guy; Br Anthony – (Oaunges); Br Michael; Br
Aidan the bursar who impressed the boys no end with his visitors who came on motor bikes in leather gear; Br
Vincent; Br Paul who was blind; Br Aquinas and Br Patrick. He recalled Mrs Janusch who taught Latin and who
had long conversations with the brothers in Latin.
Martin really enjoyed the sport especially coming from a school where the main sports were swimming and
tennis and some soccer. He loved the swimming, water polo, tennis and rugby. He had never played rugby
before and, with the classes being so small everyone had to participate in either an A or B team. Nassey
Simaan was the rugby coach and he remembers his first rugby match when Mike Griffiths kicked the ball which
bounced off the bars straight into Martin’s hands, He didn’t know what to do and didn’t know the rules but
Nassey screamed at him to score a try –so he managed to score in his first game. He had a “deja vous”
moment recently when his son was playing rugby on the same field in exactly the same conditions – a
flashback to a moment in time. Martin was also a member of the Transvaal karate team which was an extramural
activity.
Discipline was good and all the boys accepted the caning when they had done wrong. Once Br Andrew caned
the whole school, there was a visiting team and someone had written derogatory graffiti on the walls in the
quad, when no-one owned up to this, he caned every boy.
Academically Martin was given every opportunity to do well but didn’t apply himself whereas his older brother
was always top of the class together with Alfred Ghodes. However he passed his matric and then went into he
army for two years in the 11th commando, Kimberly and did border duty for 17 months. After his final exams it
was a bit of an anti-climax and he then went on holiday with his family but with the call up papers for the army.
He was the only boy from St David’s going but fortunately he met up with someone on the train. On discharge
from the army he went on to study for a BSc Building at Wits University. He is involved in construction work,
building and civil engineering and the company he is with Aveng-Grinaker-LTA, built the first Soccer City and
the new Soccer City for the World Cup. Currently the company is looking more to Africa, Zambia, Namibia,
Botswana and Mozambique whereas South Africa and Zimbabwe are quiet in comparison. The newly elected
President of Zambia has stamped out corruption and a lot of development is taking place.
Martin’s two sons both attended St David’s,Nicholas having matriculated and Phillip is currently in grade 11.
His daughter Megan is a pupil at St Mary’s Waverly.
Martin is a member of MOBS

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Matthew Schneider 2002

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  • 2014

Interview with Mathew Schneider – 2002
Matthew came to St David’s from Grayston Preparatory in 2002 into grade 8. He was the first generation of
the Schneider family at St David’s.
He remembers lining up in the quad next to the smelly ablution block, the matrics seemed huge and he
knew only two other boys from Grayston. He knew no one in his class and his introduction to a boy’s school
was a fight which broke out between two boys during an English lesson.
Matthew went to the Grade 8 camp to Babanangu. It was an overnight trip with the boys sleeping on the
bus, some in the luggage racks and some on the floor.
Matthew enjoyed the sport immensely and was a member of College house with Yvette Snyman as
housemaster. In grade 8 and 9 he played cricket, rugby and athletics. At the end of grade 9 he moved from
cricket to water polo and was a member of the team up until matric. He was a member of 1st team rugby, A
team athletics, A team swimming and 1st team water polo. The U15 rugby team did really well and Matthew
recalled the first year that St David’s was invited to participate in the 10 Schools Gala which was held at
Wits University. He remembers the early morning training the friendship and camaraderie.
Academically Matthew was average as he was too busy on the sports field and didn’t enjoy studying. He
was awarded an honours blazer for leadership, sport and merit and was selected to be a prefect.
The teachers who really stood out were Phil Andrew, Yvette Snyman, Dianne Webb, Teresa Voorendyk,
Brad Ireland and Marius Buys.
Of all the camps that Matthew participated in the grade 11 camp at the “Spirit of Adventure Camp” in the
Magaliesburg was the most memorable. They were the first St David’s boys to go there and it has become
a regular camp ever since.
Matthew made some really good friends who he still sees on a regular basis, they are really deep seated
friendships.
Matthew is passionate about St David’s and loves coaching. He enjoyed his high school career and thought
that Paul Edey was a great headmaster.
After matriculating, Matthew went to UJ and studied for a BComm Sports Management. He continued to
play rugby for Pirates for another 5 -6 years which he thoroughly enjoyed.
After graduating he went into sales for 2-3 years which he didn’t enjoy. He contacted Shane Gaffney and
started his internship at St David’s in 2010 studying for 2 years through Unisa for his post graduate
certificate in Education. He loves teaching and is happy at St David’s. He currently teaches Accountancy to
grades 8 and 9 and Business Studies to Grades 10 – 12. His mentors were Shane Gaffney, Alan Redfern
and Alex Gitlin all who have moved on to become deputy headmasters elsewhere.
Matthew is a member of MOBS and plays in their water polo team.
JLE February 2014

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Michael Marsay 1999

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  • 2014

Interview with Michael Marsay – 1999
Michael came to St David’s in 1987, grade 0. Mrs Walton was his first teacher and the classroom was
opposite the stairs to the school chapel. Mrs Scaafsma, a dragon taught him in grade 2; Mr Spence in
standard 1; Mrs Hurley in standard 2; Mrs Bowles in standard 3 and Greg Royce was the headmaster of
the prep school.
Michael enjoyed the “Bush Pig Buddies Camp” in grade 2 and found it quite exciting. He loved the sport,
was in the swimming team, and played 1st team cricket for one season and soccer. He eventually found
swimming to be more of an attraction. Michael enjoyed the soccer clinics which Willy Castle organised
during the school holidays to give the boys something to do.
Father Brewer was a good influence whilst Michael was in the prep school, and guided him through to his
first communion. He always backed the boys and sadly died in 1999.
Going into the high school with Paul Edey as the headmaster, a dynamic leader he was a breath of fresh
air. Paul instilled a sense of pride back into the school.
Sport continued to play a big role in Michael’s life and he was 1st team hockey captain and 1st team athletics
captain. Malcolm Williams joined the staff as deputy head in 1997 and turned hockey around. It became a
sport which you had an option to take and by Michael’s matric year, hockey was doing better than rugby.
He felt t was good to be part of something growing like that. Initially there were only two teams but by the
time Michael matriculated all age groups were involved. According to his brother Chris (2003), Michael and
Grant Brennan made hockey cool, it lost its stigma, the culture changed and hockey became more
acceptable as a sport. There weren’t many camps but Michael travelled to Margate in Natal for an athletics
camp which was organised by Mr Burr in the school holidays.
Michael was selected for the U18 Gauteng hockey, was appointed a prefect and house captain of The
Bishops in his matric year and was awarded a trophy as hockey player of the year.
Michael was not an academic and didn’t have the study culture but matriculated with 4 C’s and 2 D’s and
went on to study for a BComm Accounts at RAU University. He then worked for TFMC as a clerk in the
plant hire division and worked his way up to the position of general manager. He then took a sabbatical of 6
months before joining his father in his business, Marsay Equipment in 2006.
Michael is a member of MOBS, is married to Alexandra (nee Spooner) and has a daughter who plans to
attend De La Salle College.
JLE March 2014

Egenrieder, Julie

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