It was a privilege to host a memorial service for alumnus Dr Peter Norrie at the school on Saturday.
This was an opportunity for the many New Zealand-based friends of Peter, who couldn’t attend his funeral service in Australia, to gather and remember this remarkable man.
Peter was a student at the school from 1970-1974. He was a Prefect in 1974 and Dux that same year, earning an ASB Scholarship. He was a very capable academic who became the Chief Psychiatrist and Director of Clinical Services for Mental Health, Justice Health, and Drug and Alcohol Services at ACT Health in Canberra. He was an intelligent person, but more importantly, he was a kind and caring person who even as a student at the school, gave generously of his time and energy to others. In his 7th form year, (Year 13) Peter was a member of the Cafeteria Building Committee that raised $52,000 to build a new Cafeteria for the school- an enormous amount of money in 1974! They did this in just 12 months with endless events, an incredible achievement.
In 2016 we were honoured to induct a deserving Peter into the OHS Distinguished Alumni.
Peter had experienced great sadness in his life. He was orphaned at age 8. A neighbour, a member of the Salvation Army, agreed to have Peter live with them.
He was extremely grateful to the people who supported him on his journey. He recognised that without their support and encouragement, he would not have been able to achieve what he did. He never forgot this, and perhaps his way of ‘paying it forward’, was to keep in touch with his school, even when he no longer lived in the country. For years, when Peter visited NZ, he would come into the school to talk to students in our senior science classes and Health Science Academy. He spoke to parents and students at our Health Science Academy Fono’s. He was always positive, encouraging, and generous with his time.
Peter never let hardship define him. Despite having to interrupt his medical studies to earn money so that he could live, he never lost sight of his end goal. He went to work as a nurse aide and learned skills that served him well when he finally qualified as a doctor. In fact, Peter had to work in several jobs so that he could fulfill his dreams.
It was no surprise to learn that Peter has left a generous legacy to the school. Some fortunate students in the future will receive a scholarship to enable them to attend university, thanks to the generosity of Peter and his wife Carolyn. We are very grateful. We are grateful for the time we had, but sad that it was cut short.
