PBHSOB ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER
Dear Old Boy
SUMMER SPORTS DAY 2021
Given the pressure experienced by the health system in the past few weeks, occasioned by increased COVID19 infections which has led to the second wave, the Council of Education Ministers in conjunction with the National Coronavirus Command Council and Cabinet, has taken the decision to delay the reopening of both public and independent schools. Public schools will therefore reopen on Monday, 15 February 2021.
Due to the above announcement the school is very sadly no longer in a position to host the Old Boys Sports Day which is due to take place on Saturday, 30 January. The Old Boys Sports Day, 2021 will therefore have to be cancelled. It is with a very heavy heart that the school has had to make this decision. The school deeply values this occasion. It is not so much the sporting opportunity that is of value to both our boys and Old Boys but rather the relationship that is built upon between our two institutions.
Pretoria Boys High School looks forward to hosting this long standing tradition again in 2022.
Regards
GJ Hassenkamp
Headmaster
ANNUAL DINNER 2020
Distant bagpipes welcomed Old Boys to the annual dinner on a balmy Saturday, 28 November 2020. Although Old Boys may have been willing to cross oceans to be there, it was only a lucky few whose circumstances allowed them to forget the plague for a while (between liquor bans) to attend what might have been their first masked party.
The master of ceremonies was Eugene Ashton, whose humour tickled especially the erstwhile boarders. He asked Werner Obermeyer to improve upon an earlier version of grace and for Niel Van Der Watt to say a toast to absent friends.
John Illsley continued the formalities with a toast to South Africa in which he offered some historical perspective as comfort to the challenges we face. He suggested that the one source of optimism is that, even after over a century, schools like ours remain well-placed to feed the country with quality education and the values they teach. They continue to produce young men who improve their community.
A fine example of one such young man is Stephan Krugel, the head prefect. He spoke about the year that could have been, the optimism of the boys (for whom there were barely enough fields to accommodate all those who had signed up before the lockdown to play rugby), and some of the ways in which they made the best of a bad situation, putting together inspiring videos to motivate each other and the younger boys. His speech was a reminder of the innate resilience and adaptability of our boys, and their willingness to care and make a difference.
Jason Webber delivered the Old Boys Association’s chairman report. He reaffirmed some of the progress made by the club: the smooth and profitable administration of the club made possible by Yvonne Uys and Inge Paulsen, among others. He expressed his gratitude to Geoff Meyer for his perseverance and for helping arrange the night’s dinner. And then, as always, marketed the memorabilia on sale to cater for every need of a proud and loyal Old Boy.
The guest speaker was the former headmaster, Tony Reeler. He spoke about the need for schools to adapt, and referred to the lockdown regulations as a case in point: that the solutions to distance learning provided by technology would have a lasting impact, and that other traditions would also need to make way for progress. He made reference to GK Chesterton’s observation that tradition is the democracy of the dead. And he discussed some of the small ways his new school is trying to accommodate the present.
In his headmaster’s reply, Gregary Hassenkamp spoke about being fully aware of the traditions and values he needs to uphold. He read an extract from John Illsley’s Pretoria Boys High: The Story of a South African School, 1901 – 2001:
“Anybody visiting the School in about October, in the fourth term of 1918, would have found it almost deserted and no trains running on the line that formed its northern boundary. The desolation could be explained by the Spanish Influenza pandemic …. Yet the epidemic was also to bring out the very best in Boys High pupils. Often being more resistant to the disease than adults, they volunteered to serve the community in several ways. Boys High boys helped … loading bodies onto mule wagons. Other boys took food to homes, acted as drivers and messengers and played a role in keeping postal deliveries and government offices running.”
Traditions and values such as these do not age. He explained that when he left the Hermanus mountains, ocean and nature in his rear view mirror he did not do so to return to Pretoria, but rather to return to all that is Pretoria Boys High School.
– Lincoln Keeton (1996)
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LETTERS
Dear Inge,
Hoping this mail finds you fit and well. Like most of the world in Israel the order of the day is masks, crowd restrictions, you name it, etc.
Firstly I want to remark about the last newsletter with vivid descriptions of the Remembrance Day Service. Every 11/11 I get that “indescribable feeling” that takes me back to the Remembrance Day Services when I was at School from 1941 till 1945. That was during the War when there were so many Old Boys on active service. At Rissik House during the morning tea break we would spread the front page of the Daily Mail on the floor and sit around it looking at the names of the latest casualties. I remember the shock and tears when we saw the names of Felix Louw and later on David Stotesbury, both from Rissik House while I as a junior. Felix was a star wing and good hurdler. David good natured and full of jokes.
Every year the Remembrance Service was held in the hall. On the stroke of 11 the Last Post was sounded. In my final years I was a bugler in the Cadet Band. The leading buglers were assembled in the foyer at the entrance to the hall and after the 11 o’clock chimes we sounded the Last Post.
To this day (75 and a bit more years ago) I still get that indescribable feeling maybe tension, I’m not sure, waiting for the chimes and to sound the Last Post! There was a sort of confused feeling a Remembrance Day Commemoration and at the same time a World War raging!
And now we have a World War against an invisible enemy with such a nice name Corona!
I hope and pray for a Victory against the Virus and a Healthy World.
With Best Wishes for a Healthy, Happy and Successful Virus-free New Year to you and ALL Old Boys wherever they may be.
Jeff Geffen, Ashdod, Israel [Rissik House1941 1945]
P.S. Inge I am NOT Mister or Sir (I have not been knighted) Plain and simple Jeff.
Good Afternoon,
My family and I have been living in Tauranga, New Zealand since 2007. As you are most likely aware NZ have managed to control Covid cases relatively successfully, largely helped by the fact we are a small isolated island nation, making border control a lot easier. This is far different from the situation SA is faced with.
I matriculated in 1990, which as far as I can recall was the first full year Mr. Schroder was headmaster, taking over from Mr. Armstrong. I was also in matric with Greg Hassenkamp, the current headmaster.
I just wanted to send my best wishes to every-one at the school and the wider school community, our best wishes are with you as the Covid crisis continues to play out.
Some info on what I’ve been getting up to since leaving PBHS: https://www.boffamiskell.co.nz/consultant.php?v=mornehugo
Kind regards
Morné Hugo (1990)
Legendary Pretoria Boys High Physical Education Teacher Tallie van Aswegan was once again visited by Paul Katzeff (1978) in his home in Calitzdorp.
Still as fit as ever, Tallie, who is 82, remembers his years at Boys High with fondness and sends his best wishes to everyone.
Thank you Paul for visiting our Tallie.
Matthews Henry (1979)
START OF TERM MESSAGE FROM MR HASSENKAMP TO THE PBHS BOYS
ASSOCIATION BENEFITS COMMITTEE:
SOCIAL INCLUSION NOTICE
In recent months, the Pretoria Boys High School Old Boys Association has been working more closely with the School on topics of diversity and social inclusion, specifically with a view to ensuring that all present and future students at the school are able to enjoy a diverse, inclusive learning environment. To this end, we will be hosting quarterly events where Old Boys of the school and members of the School’ s Diversity committee can meet and engage around this topic, and support the school’ s ongoing work in this area.
As a starting point for this platform, a small group of Old Boys gathered with members of the school’ s Diversity Committee on 1 October 2020. Due to the lockdown regulations at the time, we were only able to host a very limited number of attendees however, this will be opened up to more guests as and when the regulations allow.
We are planning to host our next event within Q1 of 2021, subject to regulations allowing us to do so. For more information on these events, or to find out how you can get involved, please contact Kyriacos Floudiotis on 0832716008.
SELF-AMAZED
All day long the chaps told each other how they were going to keep near the front as soon as the race started and how, when they got near the finish, they would give it all they had. I also told myself that I had a good chance of coming in the first three.
Anyway, only half of the chaps who said they would run, were at the starting line at 4 o’ clock that afternoon. I had worked up a fool-proof excuse about an injured knee, just in case I did not get a place near the front. Well, the race started. At the start I kept right near the front. Going through the school gates I heard one of the girls standing there mention my name. The result was fatal: I put on a new spurt and came right near taking the lead. Of course, what happened was that at the first corner I had to stop to sit down.
I let twenty runners get in front of me and then decided to start running again. My bones were now so stiff that I could barely trot. More boys began to pass me and every one from School House would ask me what was wrong. I think I mumbled something about glass in my foot. When I reached the Experimental Farm I was all in. But to my delight I wasn’ t the only one. I remember seeing some of the chaps watching the pigs and one of those hungry boarders chasing a stray chicken across the fields. I had already decided that I must not waste time but start back for the boarding house so as to be in time for supper at 6 o’ clock,
I was now lying about 100th, so I decided to trot along Lynnwood Road. When I reached the top of the rise something amazing happened to me and I started to half-sprint. I started to pass boys one after another and when I got onto the 440 yards track on A field I developed a magnificent pace. I ran that 440 the fastest I have ever run and near the finish I gave a burst of speed and finished the race in grand style. To my surprise I came somewhere in the forties. I was just having another orange when one of the masters came up to me and asked whether I had started the race at the school gate or at the Jacaranda Avenue. I replied that I had started at the beginning of the 440. I don’t know what he meant by it, but I treated it as a compliment.
A Griffiths The Pretorian, 1951
IN MEMORIAM
PAUL KENNET OSBORN (1969)
The Spaghetti Chronicles
A tribute to Paul Kennett Osborn (22 Nov 1951 – 20 Dec 2020)
PBHS Museum Curator March 2018 – December 2020
Losing a family friend of forty five years is a seriously sad affair, it takes chunks out of one’ s being, wreaks havoc with pleasant and familiar routine and leaves in its wake a considerable void. Fortunately, reflecting on a longstanding and rewarding friendship revives a host of very fond memories – thank goodness for that.
Paul was intimately involved with the School on three distinct occasions. Firstly as a pupil, matriculating in 1969, then as surrogate to a weekly boarder at Rissik House in the eighties for parents stationed overseas and, until his passing in December 2020, as curator of the PBHS museum for nearly three years. Apart from this he was involved in Forty and Fifty-Year-On class reunions and promoted the School on every possible occasion. He often attended Old Boys’ Dinners, Remembrance Day Assemblies and National Highland Gatherings held at PBHS, all of which he looked forward to with great fondness, pride and appreciation.
Having studied at UCT, Paul became a senior auditor at what is now KPMG, he joined the Junior Rotary Club, but being something of a polymath and avid reader of history, politics, business and trends in science & technology, he inevitably became restless. He entered politics by joining what is now the Democratic Alliance (formally PP/PFP) and was a local government candidate for Sunnyside in 1984. The Election Steering Committee, of which he was a member, managed to urge retired PBHS headmaster, Mr Desmond Abernethy to stand as a candidate in the Transvaal Provincial Council election. Unfortunately, neither candidate was successful, which was the norm in those days.
Never shy to start up a company and explore new possibilities, Paul became involved in a number of businesses including real estate, property development, TV production, media project management, and new and emerging electronic media as it related to sport TV, tourism and the SA Weather Service. Due to failing health, he steadily downscaled to consulting on media projects, technical tenders and business-related matters and was elated to be appointed in 2018 to the three-days-per week position of School museum curator.
My friendship with this mild mannered, shy but strongly independent gentleman, mobile encyclopaedia and fine conversationalist, started in the seventies when we discovered we had both attended an extraordinarily fine school. Some twenty years ago, after we were both well and truly settled back in Pretoria, I mentioned to him, that I was considering entering the electronic age and had ordered a personal computer. Oz, as he became known, ever at the forefront of media and computer technology, came around one Thursday evening, showed me how to turn it on and we immediately digressed into a lengthy discussion on local, national and international affairs and if memory serves, also items such as Y2K, the Hansie Cronje saga and a new, “thing” called Google.
Clearly, what was needed, was a bit more tuition and plenty more discussion so we decided to follow up a week later after which it became a permanent, two-decade-plus event. To avoid family disruption, this confirmed bachelor and I agreed to do a regular Thursday, “pasta”, dinner – an event that became known as the Spaghetti Chronicles. Over time, we covered a myriad of items of interest including pressing problems such as primary, secondary school, and university projects with the kids (now adults!), plotting for victories in school potjiekos competitions and many more serious ventures such as organising the participation in trade exhibitions in Beijing and New York.
In recent times, discussion included Brexit, Capexit, the US election, climate change and every aspect of the Elon Musk phenomenon. All the while, many a fine, and not so fine, wine was sampled whilst steadily and unnoticeably in the background, together with the family, we developed the world’ s finest Spaghetti alla Carbonara formula. Covid slowed down the weekly meetings, now they have stopped.
The Spaghetti Chronicles is dead, long live the recollections of the Spaghetti Chronicles.
Owen Frisby (1966)
JOHAN GERARD NIJKAMP (1956)
I would like to inform you that my dad Mr Johan Gerard Nijkamp passed away on 12 December 2020.
Blessings
Monique Visser, Joe’s daughter.
STEPHEN GRAHAM APPEL (1944)
Good Afternoon
I am writing to inform you that my father (b1928) and old PBHSOB, sadly passed away on 19 November 2020. He left a note expressing that you be notified. He completed his education at Pretoria Boys in 1944 but never forgot his happy years at the institution.
Kind regards
Michelle Appel
RICHARD JOHN STUART TURK (1959)
Richard Turk 16/7/40 – 12/9/20 matriculated at Pretoria Boys High School in 1959. He worked as an accountant/financial director, for his whole life, at a pharmaceutical company, a rubber manufacturer and lastly for a quoted British company in healthcare.
He married firstly Vanessa and then Helen Bateson and spent many happy married years latterly in Natal where eventually they retired to Umdoni Retirement Village. Their mutual love of the game of bowls manifested itself over many years where he offered his services as “keeper of the books” at 2 bowling clubs, also over many years.
Richard’ s love of cricket was always present, when watching various games either internationally or when S A was playing. He was a good batsman in his young days unfortunately prevented by major feet orthopaedic surgery which precluded him from team play at school. He followed the progress of his school with alacrity often recounting his days there.
From his first marriage his daughter Mary-Anne and his grandchildren Amy and Julius (both still studying) survive him; his son Christopher having predeceased him. From his second marriage his son Stuart survives him.
PETER JOHN DUMINY (1948)
I am sorry to have to tell you of the death of my brother Peter Duminy. He died this morning at the age of 89 after a steady deterioration. Old age, I guess. He matriculated in 1948, the year Jack Spence was Head Prefect (I have no recent news of him but he must also be approaching 90).
Peter in his matric year produced a weekly ‘newspaper’, The School Argus, together with Ron Schuurink and Dave Hagen, who are probably now also pretty well forgotten, although they both went on to be of some importance. It was not printed but was posted on the notice board in the library, where it was eagerly read by many.
Here is an obituary I was able to write yesterday for the CX-Press.
PETER DUMINY
Peter Duminy, who died this morning at Strombolis retirement village, had a long association with Plettenberg Bay. On a visit from Johannesburg in 1962, he was lucky to buy a plot halfway up Hill Street, overlooking the Lookout beach. It had just been placed on the market after it was found that Hill Street could not proceed directly down the hill, as had originally been planned. The house de Meermin, designed by his brother-in-law John Stegmann, was the first to be supplied with municipal electricity and was for many years a well-known landmark.
The son of JP Duminy, the Vice-Chancellor of UCT, he grew up in Pretoria, where he matriculated at Pretoria Boys High in 1948, before graduating at Rhodes with a BA/LLB in 1952. In 1953, while completing an honours degree in Economics, he was chairman of the SRC. A committed opponent of the apartheid government, he was a foundation member of the South African Liberal Party when it was formed in May of that year. Although he completed his articles with Lunnon and Tindall in Pretoria, he decided against pursuing a career in Law and joined the Sunday Times, where he was involved in the foundation of the Financial Mail in 1959, later becoming its deputy-editor under the legendary George Palmer.
In 1968 he transferred to the Economist in London and three years later became editor of the Australian weekly Finance Week, when it was launched by Rupert Murdoch in 1971. Publication was halted due to lack of demand after only a few editions had been printed, where-after Peter became the Economist’s far-Eastern correspondent, based in Tokyo, before returning to Australia to head the publicity section of the Broken Hill Corporation. After his retirement in 1991 he returned to South Africa, where he was SACCOB’s parliamentary representative in Cape Town during the last years of white rule. After the death of his mother in 1997, he lived at de Meermin in Plettenberg Bay, where he was a generous host to friends and family from all over the world and where he later operated a bed-and-breakfast (the house was sold in 2004 and subsequently demolished).
During his last active years, he was a member of the committee of the Van Plettenberg Historical Society, his special interest being the preservation of the Timber Shed, from which his ancestor Francois Renier Duminy had taken the first load of timber in 1788. He continued to use his considerable intellectual abilities and writing skills and was the editor of Trevor McGlashan’s republication of Pat Storrar’s book Plettenberg Bay and the Paradise Coast in 2001. Unmarried, he lavished kindness and love on members of his family and his friends.
Andrew Duminy
PEARCE ROOD (1949)
Pearce Rood died of a heart attack in London on 16 January 2021. He was in the 1949 matric year at PBHS and obtained a BA/LLB at Rhodes in 1954. In 1960 he emigrated to the UK, where he joined the international London law firm Baker and McKenzie, after completing the British law requirements. He retained his interest in South African affairs and especially his old school and university and in 1991 established a trust to provide scholarships and prizes for law students at Rhodes.
When he was at school Pearce was known as ‘Daisy’ I think because the song ‘my old man’s a dustman’ refers to hobnail boots as ‘Daisy roots’!
I am afraid that I cannot provide more information except that he is survived by his wife Beaujolais, from whom you could obtain further details if you are interested
Yours,
Andrew Duminy
CHRISTOPHER KLEINHENTZ (1984)
Good afternoon,
I regret to inform you that my husband Christopher Kleinhentz passed away on 19th January 2021.
Regards
Cheryl Kleinhentz
JEROLD HENRY ROSE-INNES (1945)
Sadly, Jerry passed away on 12 September last year.
Jerry’s wife Yvonne passed away some time ago.
Jerry left behind two daughters Kathy Klostermann and Debra Mason as well as 4 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.
I got to know Jerry at the monthly Thundergun Old Boys lunches a good number of years ago and we became very good friends.
I used to fetch Jerry from Pembury Retirement Home and we had many a robust conservation during the time we spent travelling to and from the Thundergun.
As time went by Jerry became very frail and sadly stopped coming to the lunches.
As much as we tried, he refused to be persuaded and this being the case Bill Schroder (ex-headmaster) Harry Thorrold (1955) and myself (1966) took the Thundergun lunch to him at the retirement home.
What a great day! Jerry was totally surprised and a good time was had by all – we also smuggled in Gin and Tonic, his favourite tipple.
Jerry held the School High Jump record of 6′-1/4″ (scissor jump, nogal) from 1945 until 1971 when one Hattingh from Town House broken the record using the Fosby Flop.