Sadly I must inform you that Michael Moore passed away on Thursday 16th July. In his last few weeks, he suffered from Alzheimer’s and was in a home, only communicating with his family by video call. He did not attend the school himself but he taught there before entering the ministry and he had the good sense to marry Willy Brooks’ daughter Nyra who taught at Girls’ High.
Michael left teaching to enter the ministry and he was the incumbent at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Pretoria for some time. He later served a 2year term as Moderator of the Presbyterian Church. Michael was a regular attender at our Thunder Gun lunches and often said the Grace at our formal functions.
Kind regards, Michiel Smuts
In memoriam – Rev Dr Michael Moore (1934 – 2020)
Although Michael Moore taught at PBHS for just 9 years (1968 – 1976) and was not an Old Boy, he was included warmly at the Johannesburg Old Boys’ monthly lunches at the Thundergun restaurant in recent years, given his long association with the school. In 1952 as a student at Rhodes University he met his soulmate Myra (and, as his friend PBHS Old Boy Mike Smuts has said “had the good sense to marry her”), daughter of science master, Deputy Headmaster & long-time Head of Solomon House, Bill (Willy) Brooks, after whom the Brooks field is named. Their wedding reception was held in the front garden of Solomon House in October 1958 under a canopy of flowering jacarandas.
Michael studied theology, & after graduating was ordained into the Ministry. He worked in this capacity until 1966 in Pretoria, Edinburgh, Scotland & Kingwilliamstown. However, he had a crisis of faith & felt unable to continue as a Minister. He selected teaching as a new career, obtained a teaching diploma in 1967, joined the staff of PBHS in 1968, and was known amongst the boys as “Pope”.
He talked about his time of teaching as being incredibly rewarding as well as challenging, and in his memoirs wrote, “I became associated with the music of Simon & Garfunkel, especially “The Sounds of Silence” which I used to get discussions going” and “in one of the best academic classes, the Religious Instruction period became a debate between Edwin Cameron and me. The rest of the class were the audience. I knew that here I was up against a superior intellect. Later I told him that during our debates I had been questioning my faith. He replied that I had shown such conviction when I put the case for the Christian faith that he would never have guessed I had any reservations”.
Always conscious of social justice issues and the fact that PBHS was a bubble of privilege in an unequal society he started what was known as the “coloured” Boys Club. In the 1970’s this was a bold move, taking a group of PBHS boys into the Eersterust community to meet with their peers. It was an initiative to build bridges across the deep racial divide, with boys getting to know each other as people through doing activities and socialising together.
Another was taking a group of boys during the holidays to Cluny Farm, a residence for intellectually challenged adults, to undertake practical maintenance projects. Justin Neway, one of the boys taught by Michael with whom he stayed in touch, & last saw on Justin’s visit to SA from the USA in 2015, recalls the burning a firebreak at Cluny Farm, that could have gone wrong:
“The reason I recall this event so clearly almost fifty years later, is because of the teamwork and learning, and the trust we developed as a group under pressure trying to do some good while trying NOT to burn down the farm. I’ve never forgotten the anxious and fearful look on Rev. Moore’s face when the wind picked for the first time and the fire started out of control. He was tormented, torn between crushing our boyish enthusiasm by stopping the operation completely, and helping to finish the job which was obviously so useful for the Farm… I saw all of this flash across his face in an instant … I’ve never forgotten the human vulnerability it revealed…”
Richard Pentelbury, another past pupil and lifelong friend, said of him: “he was gentle, loving, considerate, respectful, humble, compassionate and insightful. He represented the qualities of a gentle man, a scholar, a thoughtful man and his integrity and authenticity of being shone through”.
During his time at PBHS, he completed his PhD and was awarded his doctorate in 1979 He returned to the ministry in 1977 until his retirement in 1999. During this time he was elected Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, a two year term of office, from 1988 – 1989. His passion for social justice continued into his ministry and was integral to all he did. After his retirement he serve the denomination on various projects until a second “retirement” in 2007.
Michael attended a 5 day “stop smoking”’ course while at PBHS – legend has it that he did this together with one of the boys he taught. He replaced smoking with morning jogging, which he continued into his early 80s until debilitated by a post-operative stroke following heart surgery in 2015. He loved the outdoors and also hiked weekly with the Johannesburg Hiking Club for many years. In recent years his health deteriorated further with the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. He passed away peacefully on 16 July 2020. Pre-deceased by Myra in 2010, Michael is survived by his sister Joan, his 3 children, Frances, Michael & Beth, 7 grandchildren and a great-grandson who was born just hours after his death.
Frances Torlage (Daughter of Rev Moore and granddaughter of Mr. Bill Brooks, former Deputy Headmaster and Head of Solomon House)