Many congratulations to OP James Ferris who got engaged to Simone Costello early in the New Year.
James popped the question at the top of a mountain in Avoriaz on the first day of the couple's New Year skiing holiday with friends.
James jokes, "Thankfully she said yes as it could have been a long holiday otherwise!"
We wish the lovely couple every happiness!
This sad news has reached the Old Princethorpians from Keble College’s The Record 2012-13.
Gerard Venes died on 30 January 2013 aged 49. He was educated at Princethorpe College and came up to Keble to read Chemistry, rowed and played hockey and darts for the College.
On graduating he joined Software Sciences Ltd as an Analyst/Programmer (1985-89) and then moved to IT Southern Ltd also as an Analyst/Programmer (1989-94). He was an IT Project Officer with UBS Investment Bank (1994-2006) and remained in the Financial Sector with Fidelity Asset Management (2007-8) and Royal Bank of Scotland Investment Bank (2009-12). He then joined Warburg Dillon Read: SBC Warburg as an IT Project Leader. He played hockey for Marden Russets Hockey Club and went skiing. His wife Cheri wrote that he died in the Hospice in the Weald, Pembury, Tunbridge Wells having bravely fought a seven-month battle against bowel cancer. He leaves a wife Cheri and three children.
Our deepest condolences go out to his family and friends.
Assistant Head, Alex Darkes, was very pleased to represent the College and do the bidding prayers at the funeral of Beryle Peeke, a much loved former teacher of St Mary's Priory, who died on the 9 December, a month short of her ninety-ninth birthday.
Commenting on the day, he said, "I was exceptionally warmly received by about ten Ursuline nuns who made sure that I was fed and watered before heading home! It was a truly lovely occasion and I can see why Miss Peeke easily made the transition from Princethorpe to Westgate-on-Sea. I should think that there would have been about fifty people in attendance. Sue O’Brien (St Mary’s Priory) and I were the only OPs in attendance.
Alex has written this obituary for the Benedictine and Ursuline nuns, happy memories of a great Princethorpian!
Beryle Peeke who died on 9 December 2013, after a short illness, was one of the greatest living authorities on St Mary’s Priory, Princethorpe. Miss Peeke - as she was known to everyone - arrived at Princethorpe in 1942 having responded to an advertisement for a history teacher in a Catholic newspaper. She recalled how the taxi driver had thrust his visiting card into her hand on dropping her off at the Priory, certain that she would call him, as he thought it unlikely that she would want to stay. Nothing could have been further from the truth and it was only when the school closed in 1965, when the Benedictine nuns left for a new home, that she was forced to leave, taking up another teaching post at the Ursuline Convent in Westgate-on-Sea, where she remained very happily until retirement.
Those whom she taught recall an inspirational, charming woman who treated her charges as adults, whilst remaining mindful of her own responsibilities and their youth. History was her passion and former pupils attribute their love of the subject to her graphic and exciting commentaries. The subject, too, had perks: visits to Canterbury, London, Oxford, Cambridge, Stratford and abroad also featured. She was naturally at home in France and Germany where she spent many school holidays, being fluent in their languages. Both of the schools were boarding, so she was able to live on the premises and contribute fully to their extra-curricular lives.
Scrabble was a favourite: "such a lovely way to extend one’s vocabulary and improve spelling". One duty was to act as a chaperone for Sixth Formers attending discotheques at local boarding schools, where she enjoyed rather endured the modern music. At times she found herself teaching English, German and French as well as history; one head was heard to comment that "it was hard to think of a subject which Miss Peeke would not be able to teach"!
After retirement her mind would constantly revert to her days at Princethorpe where she had clearly been so happy. She continued to attend all school re-unions and would frequently take the train to Victoria to have lunch and share with "her girls" what really went on behind the scenes, missing only one meeting shortly before her death. One past pupil recalled: "She never seemed to change, always appearing to be the same age". She was fiercely independent and brave, kept her own home and maintained a razor-sharp intellect and strong sense of humour right to the end. Summarily despatching a telesales call in the summer, aged ninety-eight, she slammed down the ‘phone and added: "When they say Hi you always know it’s a salesman!" She defied all medical science and never needed medication until shortly before her death.
Beryle Peeke was born in Plymouth and brought up in the West Country where she secured a teaching post after reading for a history degree in London. She often puzzled why she had
been given a name which had the letter "e" in it so many times! Being less than contented in her first post, securing the job at Princethorpe gave her something of a blissful future, though she recalled that a few colleagues could sometimes be awkward and unreasonable, testing her mettle from time-to-time. Her strong faith was central to her life and it tempered the way in which she interacted easily with others: she was always fair, kind and had high standards, never appearing to have favourites amongst her pupils. She was active and well-respected in the community, had strong friends in her neighbours as well as other locals and was a regular communicant member of the congregation at the Ursuline Convent at Westgate. She never married.
Two Old Princethorpians visited her at her home in Westgate-on-Sea in September 2013 to interview her for material for a book published to celebrate the school’s golden jubilee in 2016, when she talked animatedly for four hours, at the end of which she paused and said: "I wish I was coming back with you"!
Beryle Peeke, 3 January 1916 – 9 December 2013, is survived by a nephew and niece. A Requiem Mass took place at the Ursuline Convent Westgate-on-Sea on 20 December 2013, followed by interment at Margate Cemetery.
Many congratulations to Alex Corkhill who got engaged to Elina Tenusar on Sunday 19 January.
The happy couple plan to wed on Saturday 29 November this year and settle in Tallinn, the capital city of Elina's native Estonia, where Alex is currently job hunting.
We wish them both well with the wedding plans!
Lucy Litwinko, née Hayes and her husband Jason are celebrating the birth of their first child Sophia, who was born in October 2013.
Lucy was at Princethorpe from 1995-2000. Since leaving school she spent some time traveling and working in Africa. Then got a first class honours degree in construction management and economics from Birmingham City University. She's now working for a construction consultancy firm in Birmingham as a project manager.
She got married to her husband at Princethorpe in 2006 and they are hoping to have Sophia christened in the Chapel this year.
We wish them all well!
We learnt early in the New Year of the sad passing of Ann Grant, former much loved assistant matron at the College from the mid 1980s.
She died on Saturday 4 January after a very short illness and will be principally remembered by those who boarded at Princethorpe in the 80s and 90s. Ann was one of Princethorpe’s colourful and irreplaceable characters who would do anything for anyone. She had a very wide circle of friends and will be hugely missed.
Ann's funeral took place in North Wales on Thursday 9 January, Fr Alan Whelan, Margaret-Louise O'Keeffe and Sean Philpott attended the funeral on our behalf. Sean read one of the eulogies at the service, which had been written by former French teacher, Dominica Jewell [nee McBride]. We reproduce Dominica's words here as a fitting tribute to a lovely lady.
Approximately thirty years ago, one Monday morning in October, there was a loud knock on my classroom door. The weekly French vocabulary test was in full swing and a tall, somewhat authoritative lady dressed in a blue uniform beckoned me to approach her. She was reluctant to enter, but was evidently nonetheless determined to engage me in conversation. ‘Hello Madame. Are you aware that five of your students are currently in sick bay all claiming to feel unwell?’ That was the beginning of a long, warm and wonderful friendship, and one which has provided me and many others, most of whom no doubt have at least one ‘Ann’ story, with memories which will always be revisited and cherished.
Ann’s years as Matron at Princethorpe College were, perhaps, some of the happiest of her life, as she expressed her delight more than once at having the good fortune to meet lovely people and form lasting relationships. In her professional role, I once asked Ann to accompany me, other teaching colleagues and about fifty young boys on an educational trip to Normandy. She of course threw herself into the thick of things and assumed her responsibilities with her customary gusto.
No matter that our coach driver’s navigational skills were such that he had to circle the roundabout at the front of the school twice before joining the road outside, that the accommodation was a rung below that of tourist class, that our male charges discovered that they could gain access to the girls’ wing via the window ledges on the first floor, that our coach was vandalised during the night – in every instance Ann rallied us all round without complaint and somehow assumed the role of chief ‘lifter of spirits’. Ann was the ultimate intrepid searcher of the silver lining.
It was during this trip in particular that I became aware of the affection and respect in which she was held by the boarders and especially those who lived abroad.
In those days of working together, Ann’s enormous generosity extended to welcoming me to her private living quarters at all times of the day and evening – providing respite from the rigours of the day and a temporary escape from the occasional agitated parent or colleague.
Life after Princethorpe for Ann was no less eventful or busy and despite increasing mobility challenges, she continued to make her own inimitable contribution to the lives of those around her through a rigorous programme of volunteer work.
I am so grateful that in recent years Ann was able to visit my husband and me at our home in France a number of times. On the last occasion, we spent ten memorable days together last May. Even then I continued to learn things about her I did not know before, for example her ability to establish an easy rapport with French workmen without uttering a single word in their language.
I was both surprised and delighted to see that Ann readily embraced technology and I very much enjoyed sharing regular calls and email messages with her, although her responses tended to be somewhat succinct. A typical example of her brevity, haste to get things done and verve for life, as well as a sharp insight into the bright, generous, funny, busy and selfless person she always was, is, I believe, perfectly illustrated by one of the last emails I received from her on 8th December. It read as follows:
Subject – ‘OUT’
‘I am out now till after 2 my time. If possible ring in the week. Timetable as follows:
- ARW and Potts for the day Monday
- Hospital Tuesday
- Wednesday Volunteers’ lunch
- Thursday final arrangements for club Christmas party
- Friday Christmas party
Love to you both.
Goodbye my dear beloved friend. Thank you for all those precious shared moments of joy. Thank you for your exuberance. Your presence in the form of wonderful memories will be with me and your friends always.
Kenny Owen Head of Economics and Business Studies and wife Jess, have been experiencing their own baby boom in the shape of son Bode. Bode was in a rush to see the world, arriving three weeks early on Saturday 16 November and giving new mum and dad, Kenny and Jess, a bit of a surprise. Born at Warwick Hospital Bode weighed in at 5lb, 15oz and has already made his first visit to Princethorpe, a quick appearance at the Christmas Fair where he got lots of attention. Kenny says, "Family life is incredible, we are savouring every moment and already wonder what life was like without him!" Congratulations to Kenny and Jess.
