St mary’s dsg old girls’ association newsletter may 2008 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF st mary’s dsg old girls’ association

I just wanted to let you know that I am retiring in June 2007 and my husband and I are off to Italy for three months soon afterwards.  I will have to have a serious think about what to do for the rest of my life when we get back but first, a serious holiday!

I have had a number of emails from old girls following mom's death which has been a great comfort.  I would love to continue to get the newsletter after my retirement - it's a great way to hear everyone's news.  

1971 Gill Brooks (Middleton) brooksw@mweb.co.za
I still live in Tzaneen and stopped teaching at the end of 2006 to help my husband on the farm and with his business. My son Michael is twenty-seven and got married in November. He is a CA and is settling in Nelspruit. My daughter also did a BCom degree and is teaching at Pretoria Girls High at the moment. I am still in touch with Ann Luther (Wall) who lives close by and also teaches at the school I have just resigned from. I do hear from Di Potgieter (Barnes) She is living in Perth Australia and has two daughters. Her email address is odipo@bigpond.net.au
1971 Claire Linder (Smith) linder54@bluewin.ch
My family and I are living in Zürich, have been for the last six years. It is an amazing place to be with endless opportunities. However something will always be missing and that is a familiarity and shared history and so the newsletter helps to plug the gap a bit. I get back to Cape Town from time to time and manage to see those ‘71 Matrics who still live there. I would also like to say hello to the rest of the class if they should one day read this email.
1971 Lindy Bedborough (Viall) lindyb@stmary.co.za

I moved to Johannesburg at the beginning of the year and therefore left my position at Herschel. The reason... I am now married to Peter Bedborough

I am having a three-month break and then am taking up the Marketing position at St Mary's Waverley, which I am thrilled about. It will be nice to stay in schools’ marketing and St Mary's looks like a wonderful school. I start there in April.

News of my girls - Kathryn is a qualified doctor and doing her two year internship at Grootte Schuur. Nicole is doing her LLB at UCT. Both girls are living in my house in Rondebosch.

Yes, my mother is Pat Currer, she is living here in Sydney too, in fact she has just moved into a nursing home which has been quite stressful all round (she is now 90 years old).

I will certainly add something to your next newsletter, and if anyone from the school would like to get in touch, it would be a pleasure to hear from them. I feel like I have been quite slack!

You may also remember Janet Morris, now Currer, my sister-in-law. She and Trevor have lived in Sydney since 1994 and have five children, youngest being 17. Janet's e-mail is tcurrer@bigpond.net.au and she would love to hear from you. Her sister, Rosemary, who was in my class, lives in Brisbane. I don't have her e-mail, but have her phone no 07-38781152. I caught up with her recently at our niece's wedding (one of Janet's daughters) and we spoke of DSG and one day getting to a reunion!

 1974 Susan-Jane Goldberg (Brown) sj.goldberg@manta.co.za

Sadly I see there was very little contact from my Matric year of 1974 - and I too was guilty of not getting news to you earlier but hopefully this can make it into the next one.

I am living in Atlanta, GA USA with my husband (of 26 years) Clive and our three children, Chris (22), Alastair (20) and Lucy (16) - having moved here in November 1999.

We are so proud of our children who have settled so happily into life in the USA and are making the most of every possible opportunity.

Chris who is doing extremely well in his Civil Engineering degree here at Georgia Tech and in August will be going to do a year of study abroad at Leeds University in England. He is also very involved in and excited about a program being started up by Georgia Tech to link up with "Tukkies" in Pretoria, to help struggling countries in Africa with the improvement of their infrastructure to better the quality of life for the people.

Alastair graduated from High School last May and is also going to study Civil Engineering, but at Georgia Southern University nearer the Georgia coast. He has had a wonderful four years in High School, doing really well on the Cross Country and Lacrosse teams. He is hoping to continue playing Lacrosse at university.

Lucy started High School last August, and is also an avid lacrosse player. I have become a real lacrosse fanatic and thoroughly enjoy being involved in my kids sporting activities and vicariously reliving my youth through them without all the moods and drama of my own.

1976 Janet Bull (de Beer) bullskis@t-online.hu

A long lost sheep returns to the fold here!    For what it’s worth, here is my typically long-winded life’s summary. I’d like for my email to be added to your mail listing as I’d love to receive further newsletters.   This address will be good until June 2008, when we move to Switzerland).

My sister in law, Jane Doherty, has just forwarded your Old Girls newsletter on to me.   It has been absolutely years since I had contact with good old DSG and all the news of Old Girls.    I was very sad to read that Mrs Lawrence had died this year – she lived around the corner from us in Waterkloof and bravely taught me English.  My regards to her two daughters, who I remember as being beauties but whom no doubt, have no idea who I am, especially as I was such a junior at the time of knowing their mother.   It was great to sit down to read all the entries made by so many people I remember with fondness. 

It is hard to think “my year”, 1976/77 are all now middle-aged and the sort of age that many of our teachers were when we were at school.  Only teachers and parents ever seem to be middle-aged – not us!!   But………..

I have lost touch most sadly with all my school chums, (Caroline de Groot, Liz Carey, Fran de Klerk, Sandy Collins, Sue Morris, Harriet Gavshon, Tony Schumlow, Anne Sutton, Shelagh ?, from Waterkloof Ridge – yikes, the old memory is playing up here, know the scenario anyone? Sorry Sheelagh!)   If anyone knows how I could contact them, I’d be delighted to receive their email addresses.

I have been living in Eastern Europe for the last 12 years, bringing up and even adding to my family.  Gary, my husband is with SABMiller and we pioneered out to Poland first, where our “laat lammertjie” Nicholas was born, 10 years ago – but they didn’t want to give him a Polish passport, nor did the British, nor did the South Africans – so poor tot was stateless for weeks until the South African authorities relented, but not without a hammering fight!   Next we headed for Prague, Czech Republic, quite the most beautiful city and now Budapest, Hungary where we’ve been for four years.   We’re destined for Zug, Switzerland in June 2008, but not before our 2^nd eldest, Gabby-17, has completed her International Baccalaureate diploma at the American International School of Budapest.  (The US/International academic system is so very different from what DSG was like; one just cannot even start comparing the two systems and methodologies).   Our eldest, Jemma, 19, is a successful graduate of the International system and is studying Business at Surrey University in Guildford.  

Sadly, none of my children have their hearts in South Africa, not having grown up much there – they’re categorised Global or International Citizens.  They are fluent in Polish and if asked where they come from; they all think they’re Polish!  My heart breaks as there is nothing to beat the beauty, climate and vibrancy of our Mother Land!  Viva Africa.   I fly my SA flag boldly and at every opportunity I can!   Fortunately I’ve instilled the need to retain our good old SA accents!    So, there’s no tainting on that front, at least.

To keep my grey matter firing, I import and sell CaRRoL BoYeS pewter, have done for almost ten years,  with huge pride both as a South African expat in Europe but also because Carrol (I’m sure she’s also an Old Girl of DSG?) is a really gifted artist with a huge heart.

Please add me to your newsletter mailing list.   I’d love to receive news again.  Best regards to all DSG Old Girls – I still have my DSG coffee cup from at least 28 years ago, received at the one and only Old Girls Reunion I managed to attend!

Lovely talking to you, even if one sided.    Please send my fondest, warmest wishes to Sister Deirdre Michael – a very special lady.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend old girls this year as I am relocating to Canada in the near future. 

No scintillating news as I seem to be predominantly focussed on work - real stuff which boosts the coffers, plus a voluntary side-line thing, plus editing a book for someone (effectively I'm permanently attached to my laptop) - but we're getting back to golf again in two months time which will be wonderful, and which will provide a much needed healthy activity.

 I contacted Dr Impey and he said that Angie has moved to London lecturing at the university. The email address he has for her is impey@ukzn.ac.za. She is married to a musician and has spent time in Ethiopia and Sudan studying ethnic music. Apparently Lou Meintjes has been staying with her in London so we might be able to get her email address too. Sue is back in Nelspruit and her phone number is 013 744 1912. Lauren is in Cape Town and is counselling abused children.  Lesley Lange (Heunis) is in Johannesburg running her own personnel recruitment agency. Her email address is llange@mweb.co.za. She is married with two children Nicolette and Timothy.

Fiona Carver (McHardy) is living in Irene Pretoria and is a secretary at Cornwall College. She has two children Scott (23) and Ashleigh (19). Her email address is f.carver@cornwall.co.za

Sally Adams (Parkin) is back in South Africa and has been for a couple of years. She works as a landscape architect and loves her job. Sal is not easily contactable on email as she doesn’t believe in it!! Her numbers are 083 631 0042 or 011 467 7362. In fact it is even hard to get her by fax! She has just the one little boy – Jamie. I think Sal has not changed one iota.

Stella went back to Limassol Cyprus to get married. I saw her once when she was back visiting her family in the early 1980’s. She had a little boy by the name of George.

We saw Liz (Fourie) Vernon when we had our 20^th Reunion but I have tried to get her at all the numbers I had for her with no success. She was living in the Kyalami area, married with 2 boys. Unfortunately Fourie is too common a name to phone everybody in the directory!!

The last email address I had for Kim Mullett (Glasgow) was encounterkim@yahoo.co.au I don’t know whether that will still reach her but Anne might have an idea there. If I remember correctly the last I heard about Kim was that she was training to be a minister.

I looked up Jill on the UCT website and here is the email address for her jill.farrant@uct.ac.za

Francis 17 and Luke 14 have grown up so fast. Francis matriculates this year and is contemplating doing a gap year or studying drama at Pietermaritzburg or Rhodes.

All my sisters are scattered in different places, Bainbridge Island (Seattle) Nelspruit, Cape Town, and UK, near Northampton...little village story.

Stuart is chaplain at St Anne’s, Hilton, after several years travelling doing consultancy work with Coprorate leadership development. Quite a change from being a full time parish priest, but he enjoys being back in it again.

Louise Meintjes is an Ethno Musicologist at a university in the mid Atlantic. I haven't been in touch for years, so I don't know exactly where she went after she left Austin, Texas. We had a few fun adventures in the Cape as students.

Rob and I still live near Howick, Stuart is 10 and at school in Hilton. Rob will be attending the 30 year reunion for his St Albans year in October, all being well. We run our own business, bottling honey and jams, have a small multi-faceted farming operation and own The Rotunda in Hilton.

It was wonderful to hear from Anne again, she is doing a great job getting everyone together for the big reunion of 2008!  I occasionally met up with Anne when I lived in Cape Town for 20 years, but three years ago we moved to Randolph, New Jersey, USA as my husband works for Pfizer and was transferred over here.  We are enjoying life in the north eastern USA, but the winters here are brutal, that is when we long for the hot African sun!