Mr J. H. E. Schroder dies

Press, 16 July 1980, Page 3

Mr J. H. E. Schroder dies

Mr John Henry Erie Schroder, a former assistant editor and literary editor of “The Press” and former Director of Broadcasting, has died at Hamilton. He was 84. Mr Schroder had a distinguished career as teacher, journalist, broadcaster, and administrator in the higher education system of New Zealand. Born in Hokitika in 1895, he was educated at Hokitika District High School, and represented the West Coast at cricket. Mr Schroder was also a champion tennis player at Canterbury University College, He was elected a Senior Scholar’of the University of New Zealand and graduated from Canterbury College as a master of arts in 1919. He then became an assistnot master at Christchurch Boys’ High School and was from 1921 unti1..1926 a senior English master.

In 1927, Mr Schroder became an associate editor of the “Sun” in Christchurch. He was appointed assist-

ant editor of “The Press” in 1929 and became responsible for its literary page where his distinctive style became well known in New Zealand and overseas. Essays- printed in “The Press” and the “Sun” were collected in “.Remembering Things” published in 1938. As a political writer, Mr Schroder built a reputation for informed and steady judgment. . His dominant interests were in finance and education. For .18 years Mr Schroder was- on the Canterbury College Council, being chairman for a term and its representative on the senate, of the University of New Zealand. For some years he was one of 3YA’s . regular book reviewers, and subsequently one of the national panel of speakers on international affairs;: • ' In June, 19-19, Mr Schroder was appointed AssistantDirector of Broadcasting, retiring as director in 1961.

For many years after his retirement, he wrote a regu-lar-feature column for “The Press,” called “As I hear. . .” He was on the selection committee of the State Literary. Fund and a member of the Queen Elizabeth 11 Arts Council and the Indecent Publications Tribunal. Mr Schroder was also the author of “Second Appearances” (1959), “The Street and Other Verses,” (1962), “Yet Once More,” (1969) and “The Ways of Words,” (1969). , ' In December, 1975; the University of Canterbury conferred on Mr Schroder the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters. ’ In 1936, Mr Schroder married Miss Marjorie Young, who had graduated Ph.D from London University. . His son, Mr M- Schroder, is a lecturer in mathematics at Waikato University.