TRIBUTE TO PAST PRINCIPAL

Chronicle (Levin), 14 December 1946, Page 4

TRIBUTE TO PAST PRINCIPAL

VALtlE OF LATE MR. W. THOMAS'S WOftK FOR COLLEGE "It is fitting that this report should opeh with a reference to the most serious loss which the college has yet sustained in its short history," said the principal of Horowhenua College, Mr. N. A. Byrne, at the commencement of his annual report at the college prize-giving ceremony on Thursday. "I refer to the death of Mr. W. Thomas, who had been principal of the college since its foundation. "Abier pens than mine have paid tribute elsewhere to Mr. Thomas' fine qualities as a teacher and as a man," continued Mr. Byrne, "and those tributes were founded op. an acquaintanceship which I have notnao the pleasure of sharing. But a stranger to Horowhenua College does not need to be here long to understand the deep respect and affection in which he was held, not only by his pupils and staff, but by the whole community.

"Mr. Thomas' essential humanity, his kindliness, his integrity of character and, above all, his courage in the face of suffering, have been an inspiration to all who knew him. He has imbued the college with his own ideals. The characteristics which impress a newcomer 'so pleasantly, the atmosphere ot friendly co-operation in the stafT, of reliability in work and keenness in play among the students, are his gifts to it. Proposals are under consideration for placing in the college a memorial worthy of its first principal. This is right and fitting. But Mr. Thomas' real memorial is an intangible one. It lies m the characters of his pupils. In the words of a great Greek orator, 'His story lives on, not graven in stone over his native earth, but woven into the stuff of other men's lives."