with her about their respective experiences at the College. He will be happily remembered and sadly missed by his wife Mary, his three children Sarah, Anthony and Annie and his five grandchildren. Peter Wynter Bee (son-in-law) Jessica Wynter Bee (2005) (granddaughter )
REX HERBERT THOMAS (1942) 1924 – 2009 Rex Thomas attended the Crypt School in Gloucester from where he took up a place at Pembroke to read Modern History on a Dame Joan Cooke Exhibition in 1942. He went into the Navy during the War as an officer but returned to Pembroke to complete his studies after demobilisation in 1946. Finals in 1948 were followed by a Dip.Ed in 1949 and a long career in teaching. In 1959 he was appointed head teacher of the grammar school in Fowey, Cornwall until 1967, when he took over as head teacher of St Austell Grammar School, transferring in 1974 to become head of the new sixth form college. He finally retired as Principal of St Austell Sixth Form College in 1984. While doing research into all the Sixth Form Colleges then in existence, he was awarded a “Schoolmaster Fellowship” at Pembroke, and very happily made it his base in the early months of 1970. The Masters Degree pursued at Pembroke resulted in a paper on which Cornwall County Council based its decision to create a sixth form college in St Austell. Friends, past pupils and colleagues attended a celebration of the life of Rex
Thomas to share their memories. Rex lived in Fowey for some 50 years, arriving in 1959, and was very well known in the community, having taught generations of pupils. Many former pupils kept in touch and Rex took enormous pleasure in encouraging achievement. A private memorial service was held for family and close friends. Mrs Thomas recalls that “When Rex was in the Navy and he landed troops onto one of the beaches in Normandy on D-Day, two of his friends were killed. They were only 19 and 20. He always remembered them and knew how lucky he was living such a long, happy life”. She also recalls that like many young men who had gone through the war and survived, Rex was determined to make the world a better place. “He was an optimist. He thought the future belonged to the younger ones and that the world could become a better place by educating them”. Rex Thomas is survived by his wife, Peggy, and their two children, Helen (Somerville 1978) and Martin (Exeter 1982). Martin is now Professor of Colonial History at Exeter University. Peggy Thomas
REGINALD SEVERN (1948) 1926-2009 Reg was born and brought up in North London between the wars. After being evacuated to Somerset, he went to Haberdasher Askes School. When old enough, he volunteered and joined the Fleet Air Arm, which meant travelling on the Queen Elizabeth to the States – dodging U-Boat packs – for flight training as a fighter pilot. He loved the States: the flying, the people and the music of Glenn Miller, Frank
112
35751 College Record 2009 v3.indd 112
11/12/2009 14:50