Tribute paid to Mr T. H. McCombs

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33068, 8 November 1972, Page 18

Tribute paid to Mr T. H. McCombs

The man who 16 years ago said he wanted to make Cashmere High School a “school which pupils would be proud to come to,” Mr T. H. McCombs, was accorded a tribute last evening by parents of present and past pupils who packed the school hall for a function to mark his retirement next month.

The evening, which opened with a fanfare of trumpets, was organised by the school’s Parent-Teacher Association as a token of thanks to Mr McCombs, who has been headmsater of the school since its opening in 1956. Tributes were paid to Mr McCombs and his wife by the Mayor of Christchurch (Mr N. G. Pickering), Porfessor P. J. Lawrence, professor of education at the University of Canterbury, the chairman of the school’s board of governors (Mr W. H. Bowen) the deputy principal of the school (Mr J. D. Murdoch) and by a former president of the P.T.A. (the Very Rev. G. D. Falloon).

Mr McCombs was a man who had served his community, his province, and his country in an exemplary manner, mirroring the type of service his parents had given, Mr Pickering said. “For years and years to come, when the name of Cashmere is mentioned it will be mentioned with the name of the man we honour this evening,” he said. Professor Lawrence said that Mr McCombs had foreseen changes in the very nature of secondary education when Minister of Education in the late 19405, changes which were having important, impli-

cations today. In all that Mr McCombs had done as a member of Parliament and later as a Minister of the Crown, he had always said what he meant; and his work was still bearing fruit on the national scene.

On behalf of all present and past pupils and staff of the school, Mr Murdoch said that Mr McCombs had created a school which worked as a smooth machine, because everyone had been given the chance to make it

so and no . one part was supreme. Mr McCombs had always treated his pupils as individual persons with rights to be respected. His integrity was beyond question, and he had always known how to delegate authority without interference. He was a man who had always emphasised success and the positive side of school life, and in so doing had created a school community which was an environment of respect.

,“Mr and Mrs McCombs, since 1956 you have built this school into an institution in which we have been proud to learn, proud to teach, and proud to work for,” Mr Murdoch said. Parents of the school owed a debt of great gratitude to Mr McCombs—which would be fittingly remembered in a scholarship endowed in his name, Mr Falloon said. The scholarship fund, at present $llOO. was raised by parents and will be awarded each year to two pupils who show excellence in all facets of school life.

A presentation of four hand-carved dining chairs was also made to Mr and Mrs McCombs.

Mr McCombs, in reply, said that he had been fortunate to have always enjoyed what he did. “But most of all, I have enjoyed being head of this school,” he said. “I have enjoyed being with young people. These now number more than 10,000, with whom I have had contact since I began teaching.” Mr McCombs said that he was grateful for the farewell which had been extended to him and his wife. “I am grateful, too, for the thoughts that have been behind this gathering,” he said.