Diana was a long term resident of Oatley, who had a long association with St George Girls High school as a student , teacher and later member of the St Georgians.
ST GEORGE GIRLS – CENTENARY LABYRINTH – SEP 8 2016 (DIANA RENTON RIGHT REAR)
She presented an annual award to Oatley Primary School in memory of her grandfather, who was the Principal . He taught Edgar Britt in the 1920’s encouraging his father to allow Edgar to become a jockey. Edgar, who started riding at Moorefield Racecourse, age 14 in 1928, later became a world renowned jockey. This is mentioned in my Moorefield Racecourse (1888-1951) book.
Diana attended St George Girls from 1959-1963. She features on the honour board in the school assembly hall for her Leaving Certificate result.
Maths was Diana’s passion and so in 1968 she was appointed as a Maths teacher to St George . Apart from one year at Canterbury Girls , Diana spent her entire teaching career at St George Girls until she retired in 2001. After her retirement, she joined the St Georgians ,becoming the Treasurer. Her last major event as Treasurer was the school’s Centenary Luncheon , July 23, 2016.
I arrived at St George Girls in 1977 to teach Social Science . Diana and I became friends .We both shared a sense of adventure through our own travels ; a great sense of humour ; enjoyed culture and were very good record keepers with our respective diaries . We would compare notes on former students if either of us could not remember details . Diana assisted me in a number of my Council campaigns by helping on election day.
St George Girls loved Diana as their Maths teacher . This is clearly shown in the lovely messages being left on the St Georgians Facebook site.
The 1994 school captain, Anna Kalloudis emailed me on Saturday from Canberra to state the following memories:
“Her wry humour and boundless creativity and chutzpah in formulating and presenting her maths lessons and in later years, it struck me she was a teacher who really cared about her students learning to work like that to engage us and open up the material for exploration through fun.”
Diana loved teaching Maths and she made it a fun subject with her Mr Men characters. She was Mr Silly and each of the girls in the class had a Mr Men name. In the 1996 Year Book, she bemoaned the fact that “the new Mr Men characters were not up to scratch.”
She ran the exchange programme for St George Girls students to the USA , largely California, for many years . Prior to this there was the Miss St George Competition.
Diana travelled extensively overseas ,and always showed the students her slides and told them stories of her travels.
After she retired from St George, she continued to coach students for the HSC Maths examination. Such was her dedication to Mathematics.
Diana drove VW’s – a brown one for many years then a grey VW. In 1986, she was involved in a bad car accident at the corner of Hillcrest Avenue and King Georges Road, Hurstville.This necessitated substantial time in Prince Henry Hospital and then rehabilitation. In the 1996 Year Book she is quoted as saying that “her greatest fear was to have not survived her car accident.”
Diana and I provided moral support over many years to Georgina , a 1983 year 12 student who also had a bad car accident .Diana taught Georgina Maths, and I taught her Commerce. We would catch up for either coffee or lunch ,or simply chat on the phone with Georgina to keep an eye on her. I told Georgina personally the sad news on Tuesday.
Her loves included JFK ;her favourite movie was Dr Zhivago and her favourite colour was bright pink .
Diana died on January 6, 2018. it was ironical that i attended a Beatles concert at the Opera House on January 5 ,2018. John Lennon was one of her favourite entertainers .
“Imagine all the people living for today “…
A life well lived , Diana
‘Vale Diana , an inspirational teacher of Mathematics, a lovely lady and a loyal friend of 40 years. A true St Georgian .
Anne Field , Kogarah
St George Girls teacher (1977-2011)
January 14, 2018
,
