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ST EDWARD’S
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Common Room Obituaries
BEE
– On 10th December
2015, Jeanie Carolan (formerly
Bee), (MCR 1977-2000).
The following obituary has
kindly been provided by David
Cundy, Charlie Baggs, Linda Lyne
and Pauline Ely;
Jeanie came to SES to teach
Mathematics part-time in January
1977, and with two breaks for
maternity leave, stayed until
2001. A Mathematics graduate
from Hull University who had
been brought up in Manchester,
she brought a good dose of
northern common sense,
and she was an important
pioneer in the movement to
co-education. When she joined
the Common Room there were
no girls among the pupils at St
Edward’s, and just a handful of
women in the Common Room.
Life was not always easy for
them, and Jeanie was quietly
determined, seemingly unruffled
by the situation and provided
judicious advice in supporting
her colleagues. She was warm
and funny, with a mischievous
sense of humour, the raising
of a wry eyebrow, and a
lightness of touch in dealing with
potentially annoying situations.
Her common-sense wisdom
was rooted strongly in her family
values and her conviction of
the worth of all shapes, sizes
and shades of humanity. Her
many pupils will remember her
ever-helpful presence in the
classroom, with a particular
concern for those who did not
find the subject straightforward.
A formidable plant-collector
herself, she discovered one
hesitant pupil grew cacti and
succulents. Sharing his interest,
she coaxed him through his
GCSE Mathematics. Long
after he had left the school,
she was continuing to water
and propagate his gifts on her
home windowsills. She was a
spectacular cook, and loaves
of nourishing brown bread still
warm from the oven would be
given to her friends. Products
of her cookery often found
their way into her Mathematics
lessons too, and at the end
of the Autumn term Fermat
would become the first stage
of a mince-pie production line.
Initially she just taught to O level
(and then GCSE), but she was
eventually persuaded to teach
Lower Sixth classes as well.
The class photographs became
a standard item on the display
boards in her room, which were
joined by a selection of posters
designed by pupils. In the 1980s,
Jeanie played a full role in the
department’s involvement in a
series of curriculum changes:
the introduction of calculators,
assessed course-work for a
new joint O level-CSE syllabus
(a precursor to GCSE), and
the growing use of computers
in the teaching and learning of
Mathematics. Jeanie helped us all
through a period of considerable
change, sometimes urging
caution, but always being very
supportive to colleagues and
pupils alike. Other skills were
brought into play behind the
scenes in many school drama
productions, where her calming
influence could be relied on
in the make-up room or the
wardrobe. Gardens at home
in Middle Way and Lonsdale
The following obituary has
kindly been provided by Former
Sub-Warden, Malcolm Oxley,
and was originally printed in an
issue of the
Chronicle
;
Richard Bradley, who died
on 25th March 2015, succeeded
the Seventh Warden, Frank
Fisher, in 1966. Fisher was a
hard act to follow and though
Bradley had a classic public
school background both in his
own education (Marlborough
and Trinity College, Oxford)
and in his career as an
outstanding Housemaster
at Tonbridge, his was a very
different temperament from
his predecessor. Though
enthusiastic and talented as
a games player, his interests
were distinctly academic and
cultural. The son of a Prison
Commissioner, Richard
was a naturally thoughtful
and sensitive man with a
pronounced social conscience.
His approach to education was
Road were re-designed. Then, in
retirement, Jeanie and Malcolm
lived at Kingston Bagpuize, where
Jeanie created another wonderful
garden. The gunnera, which
had dominated the rather small
garden in Summertown, was
now put in its place, competing
for attention with many other
interesting plants. Sadly her
husband Malcolm, who had been
Head of the Economics Unit at
Oxford Brookes University, died
in 2007. A few years later Jeanie
met, and married in 2013, Paddy
Carolan, a fusion physicist at
Culham, and moved to Boars Hill,
where another garden benefited
from her attention. It was a
wonderfully happy marriage, all
too short, for in mid-2015 she
was diagnosed with myeloid
leukaemia, and died before the
end of the year.
BRADLEY
– On 25th March
2015, Richard Bradley, Former
Warden.
O B I T U A R I E S
Richard Bradley
Jeanie Bee