IN MEMORIAM : DON HOBSON
It was only on 6 June that the school received the sad news that Mr Don Hobson had passed away the preceding week, on 29 May, at the age of 90. Mr Hobson (after whom the Hobson Auditorium (alias Downstairs Lecture Theatre) and the Hobson Trophy are named) arrived at PHS in 1958 (the year that the school was founded) and retired in 1985 (just after I had arrived). Although I knew him for only a short while, I must say that there was a definite “presence” about him. It is fitting for me to quote in toto the tribute that Mr Winter paid him in the 1985 Plumstead High School Magazine.
“Don Hobson is a big man.
“His retirement in March [1985] after 27 years at this school has left an enormous gap. From its modest beginnings in 1958, he has helped to build Plumstead High into a school of which we can all be proud. Nobody has meant more to this school than he has, because the school has always meant such a great deal to him. His contributions have been so numerous that any attempt to summarise them here would be hopelessly inadequate.
“Yet there is something much more important than the support he has given to the six headmasters at this school, more valuable than the thousands of Geography lessons that he has taught, more lasting than the buildings and fields for which he has been almost totally responsible. He has been an outstanding example to all who have had the privilege of knowing him. He epitomises the type of person that this school has always aimed to produce.
“He is a kind man, compassionate and sympathetic, especially to those in distress. Countless numbers of pupils, parents and staff have benefited from his wise counsel or comforting hand on their shoulders.
“He is a man of the utmost fairness and honesty. Perhaps this has been most clearly demonstrated by his insistence on sportsmanship. He exhorted his teams to play hard and clean, to show pluck against stronger opponents and to be courteous to all.
“He is not afraid to show righteous anger. His temper – and it is there – is reserved for that which is unjust and deceitful. But he is also quick to forgive and forget.
“He is humble. If he has a fault, it is that he underestimates his own value. He is embarrassed by praise, preferring to work in the background, getting on with the job without expecting credit. He doesn’t know the meaning of resting on his laurels – just look at his active retirement!
“He is, of course a ‘character’. He is the father figure of the school – grandfather to the younger generation. Legends grow around men like this. He bellows in the corridor, his arched eyebrow, his turns at the wheel of the tractor, his barely audible intercom announcements – these add richness, humour and affection.
“But most of all we shall remember Don Hobson for his faith in his Heavenly Father. We shall never know how many people have been guided to the truth by the sincerity and shining example of this man. It is this faith, too, which has enabled him to face up to personal tragedy in his life. It is a measure of his strength and courage that the pupils and staff were largely unaware of the suffering that he had to endure. He has been an inspiration to us all.
“And now we have to say goodbye to this remarkable man. But no; this has been made impossible. Admittedly, we shall no longer the familiar figure inspecting the grounds, teaching in his classroom, working in his office or occupying the corner seat in the staffroom, but we shall never be rid of him completely.
“Don Hobson has been too big a man for that.”
Our sympathies are with his family. May he rest in peace.
Past Pupils who wish to may write a comment on the Past Pupil Page.
Plumstead High School 