Last Post - Death Notice

Please Note That in This Notice

The year shown as 1995 should read 1996.

 

Location of the George Greenaway Elementary School

Surrey, British Columbia

 

This article was written by George Greenaway and 

Published in "The MANITOBA TEACHER" 

December 1940

 

Acceptance Letter December 1973

December 7.1973

Mr. Charles Hardy, President,

Surrey Association for the Mentally Retarded,

Box 1204,

Station “A”

Surrey, BC V3S 2B3

Dear Mr. Hardy;

     I have just received a copy of the minutes of the

Meeting of the Board of Trustees held on December 3, 1973 at

which the motion was passed that the North-West Cloverdale

Elementary School be named in my honour.  This motion

indicates  that the suggestion for the naming of this school

came from the Surrey Association for the  Mentally Retarded. 

     It was indeed a great surprise to me when I was

first informed of this on the morning following the meeting,

and asked whether I would accept this honour.

     I hope it is without any vanity that I was pleased

to accept. My reason for accepting it is that I think it is

very fitting that that school, into which the classes operated

through your Association will soon be moving, should bear a

name which has had some connection over the years with the

Surrey Association.  Naturally, I appreciate very much that

you put forward my name to typify that connection.

     Members of the Surrey Association have made, and are

making a very important contribution to the welfare of retarded

persons.  They have always held a profound conviction of the

unique worth of every person, handicapped or not; they  have

recognized every person’s capacity for love and the need to be

loved; and they have been keenly sensitive to the fact that

retarded persons possess hidden capacities for joy, respect,

understanding and insight.    

                                     cont’d

                                                                    -                               

                            - 2 -

     Members of the teaching staff employed by the Association,

with whom I have been the most closely connected, have always in

my view epitomized those attitudes and qualities in a very special

way.  I have always admired them for that reason, just as I have

always been impressed and, as well, felt humility and gratitude

in knowing over the years so many faithful parents and friends of

the Association who have laboured to improve the well-being of

retarded persons,  and to provide for them the opportunity to

discover and share in those dimensions of affection and meaning

which are often ignored in our sophisticated and materialistic

society.

     I hope that the name you suggested for this school will

personify in future years these important attributes which have

characterized both the staff and members of the Surrey Association

during all the years in which I have known them.

     And I thank you most sincerely for the honour you have

accorded me.

                                                                                                 Yours sincerely,

                                                                                                G. J. Greenaway

                           Supervisor of

                           Special Education

GJG:mms

                                                    

Who is George Greenaway

George James Greenaway

Born August 3^rd, 1914 Carberry, MB

Died February 1, 1996 (81) New Westminster, BC

George James born on August 3, 1914 in Carberry, MB, was the only child of George and Mary Greenaway (nee Hamill) who had come to Canada from Ireland in the early 1900’s. His first claim to fame was winning a public speaking contest in Winnipeg at the age of 13. George was 19 when he began teaching at a one room school (Grades 1-8) in Lake Francis, MB. He taught here for three years.

A day after his 25^th birthday he arrived in Chesterfield, England for a year of exchange teaching. (While there he read Full Stature by Dr. H.G. Stead, a book that influenced his philosophy of education).

As war had broken out life was far from normal – gas masks were issued and blackout came into effect. *  After his return to Canada he met a fellow teacher, Louisa Langton, who he married 2 years later. 12 Weeks after their marriage in March 1943 he was sent overseas where he was in charge of a French Canadian company that delivered bridging to rivers.  Almost 3 years later on New Year’s Day, 1946 he arrived back in Winnipeg. George and Louise moved to Vancouver where their son, David George was born in November of that year. Their daughter, Elizabeth Louisa was born in 1948. George returned to teaching, 1 year at Seaview Veteran’s School in Vancouver and 9 years as a high school Math teacher. The last 19 years of his career were spent as Supervisor of Special Ed.

A highlight was having a school named after him in 1974.

George was a man of detail. He made extensive notes on everything from weekly church sermons to his many worldwide travels (one of the more significant destinations was Normandy, France in 1980 where he attended the 50^th anniversary celebration of “D Day”).

He attempted to master the computer world but felt much more confident with pen and paper. Much of his handwritten record keeping is kept in the family archives.

(*Blackout regulations came into force as the war began. These meant that families had to cover up all windows at night to ensure that no light escaped that could aid enemy bombers to find their targets. Street lamps were also switched off and car headlights covered except for a narrow slit.)