By Rev. Canon Dr. Alson B. H. Percival
On Friday, March 29, 2008 we laid to rest the late Mary Charles George OBE at the Estridge Moravian Church. All who participated are to be congratulated for their contribution. Special recognition must be paid to the Rev. Denise Belle Watson who preached a challenging sermon to lift us to a higher plain in God’s service; and to Dr. Winston Isaac, Teacher Mary’s nephew whose obituary of her was to the point and reflected the deceased.
It was evident that “Teacher Mary” as she was affectionately known, made herself from early age a servitude to education. She accepted the attribute as her calling and she demonstrated her own styles and approaches as she gave most of her natural talents to this endeavour. As one of her students I did not get the impression that she strove to be well rounded, but she did not allow her weakness to have become fixed which would have produced mediocrity. And too, it would have directed her time and attention from what she naturally could have done well.
As a teacher, Teacher Mary’s inclination was to do what she did for the right reasons:
1. She was well organised and she impressed upon her students to organise their lives which will include their educational quest.
2. She impressed upon her students the need to be creative. She would remark, “Try new things – be creative – variation will help you.”
3. Teacher Mary never ruled with an iron fist, she made students part of classroom management and prepared them to assume responsibility and authority later in life.
4. Teacher Mary empathised with her students, and while doing so she always encouraged them to on press to the upward mark.
5. Teacher Mary always sought to know her students’ personal character. On one of her last visit to Nevis accompanied by a colleague teacher, Mrs Helen Bradley I was among those she visited. Sitting in the sitting-room of the St George’s Rectory, she said, “You were one of my students’ personalities I recognised and it was quite clear to me that you knew where you wanted to go in life; now you have arrived, remain humble.”
It is my hope that the research that was done by students who sat at Teacher Mary’s feet during her last days have been so impacted that they have gleaned key insights from 80 years knowledge from that distinguished educator, and that online assessment will greatly enhance their ability to be better citizens in fulfilling their God-given potentials.
There could have been more of Teacher Mary’s students present at her Home-going Service to show to the family their appreciation for her influence on their lives. And too, the Education Department should have been profoundly represented to mark her indelible contributions to education within the Federation.
May her soul rest in peace and rise in glory.
