Pusey praised for making Dunrobin ‘university among primary schools’

The late William Pusey was on Friday eulogised as a pioneering educator whose exemplary leadership and mandate for excellence transformed Dunrobin Primary into a household name and preferred school in the Corporate Area.

Friends and family also came out in their numbers to pay their respects to a man who they described as a disciplinarian and mentor to many.

Pusey, who passed away at the age of 105 on January 3, was bade farewell at a thanksgiving service at the St Andrew Parish Church.

Noel Watt, current principal of the 49-year-old Kingston-based institution, said the stellar achievements of the school in the Grade Six Achievement Test, and before that in the Common Entrance Examination, were the result of Pusey’s hard work.

“As many of you know, Mr Pusey was transferred from Half-Way Tree Primary School to start this noble institution. We wish to declare that Dunrobin Primary owes its early years of prominence as a school of excellence to his exceptional leadership,” he said.

“I remember in those early years, Dunrobin was well known as an outstanding school. In fact, we saw it almost as a university among primary schools in this region.”

His daughter, Roma Bennett, said she, along with her siblings, would always remember the invaluable life lessons he taught them as a family.

“Dad was well known for his sense of fair play, discipline, and integrity with a strong sense of care and thoughfulness. Many students who went on to become well known in their respective professions have expressed their gratitude to our dad for exercising an uncompromising and strict discipline,” she said.

“His legacy continues as the current principal upholds his ideas, which have made Dunrobin Primary School a sought-after institution to this day, a school of excellence. He believed in praying unceasingly, he took God at His Word, and he had an unending love for mankind.”

jodi-ann@gilpin@gleanerejm.com