morganacademyfp

DB died last Saturday at the age of 89. His funeral takes place tomorrow (Friday 29th October) at 11 a.m. at Murroes kirk. What a character - there goes a real link to the past.

Thank you for letting us know. If there is an obituary in the newspaper, please send it to me.

For anyone who didn't know 'DB', there is a good photo of him in the Photo Gallery under Sports Photos- Cricket 1st XI-1951

I'm in the process of redoing the photo gallery, so the photo that Ken is referring to may not be on the new gallery. (1956 and 1967 cricket teams on the new gallery.)

Thelma

I haven't seen an obituary yet, however I went to D B's funeral today and was speaking to Spen Gove who arrived at The Morgan at the same time as D B and coincidentally they both finished their careers at Forfar Academy. Spen has promised to write a tribute which can be used in the Newsletter and the website. The service was a wonderful tribute to a remarkable man. Those of us who knew him as a teacher barely knew the full range of his achievements. Also at the service were Mr & Mrs Joe McLeod, both instantly recognisable and I spoke with them for a short time. It seems there are an amazing number of "lunches" that former pupils and former teachers attend as a result of their time at Morgan.

David

So sad to hear of DB's passing. He was a true original and I credit him with fostering my interest in languages. I still remember how he would play French pop songs and collar "Onion Johnnies", record an interview with them and play it back to us. It really brought the language alive.

Nice to have you back, Nicki.

DB used to punish us (for errors with French irregular verbs; poor pronunciation; inattention; etc.) with a broken blackboard pointer called "White Nellie". Few of us escaped! But he was a man with great humour and personality.

D B Smith 2010
DONALD SMITH - AN APPRECIATION

On Friday, October 29th, a large congregation at Murroes Church paid tribute to the memory of Don Smith (DB) an outstanding and well loved member of the Modern Languages Department at Morgan Academy for many years, who made his mark in many ways, not only as an excellent teacher but as a shining example to all those whom he taught and to his colleagues as well.

“A lad o’ pairts”, though a real Yorkshireman, had served, after field training in South Africa, as an instructor in the R.A.F. on Tiger Moths at the Elementary Flying School at Scone. He fell in love with this area and arrived at Morgan, which he served with distinction both within and outwith the school for many years, starting up hockey for boys (leading eventually to one Olympic star), participating in school outdoor pursuits like hill-walking and ski-ing and organising foreign expeditions, on one of which he contracted poliomyelitis. He was told he would need calipers for the rest of his life, but being Don, he defied predictions and through sheer guts and a refusal to conform danced at a wedding in record time and proceeded to golf and hill-walk till well into old age.

On leaving Morgan, with his beloved wife Tib and his family, he went to Anderson High School in Lerwick as head of Modern Languages, stayed several years, took “O” Grade Norwegian, and wrote a book about his life there prior to taking up a similar post at Forfar Academy where he finished a distinguished career.

I have taught in five different schools in both east and west Scotland and I can say without fear of contradiction that I never encountered a finer colleague and friend than Don Smith. They simply don’t have characters like him in schools any more. Spen Gove

Don B. Smith is author of Sojourn In The Land Of The Simmer Dim, an account of the three years he spent in Shetland from 1966 as a teacher of language at the Anderson Educational Institute.
Isn't it amazing what you can find on google!

Very many thanks, Thelma! I'll seek it out!