Farewell to Norma Keizer

On Tuesday, the nation said farewell to Norma Keizer in grand style. I specifically said nation, because students from all parts of this country would have passed through her hands, either through her teaching or through her guardianship of the Girls’ High School. One of the things that stands out today about that school is the strength of its alumnae body, particularly those overseas, who would have been inspired by the leadership she provided and the inspiration she gave to them.{{more}} Although there are admittedly gender differences with the approach taken by males and females to a number of things, it is no accident that there is a marked difference between the love and commitment shown to their school by the girls and that shown to the Boys Grammar School by the boys. A lot of this has to do with the figure of Norma Keizer, who not only inspired her students but built in them a commitment to the development of what she saw as a family.

Quite often there was criticism for differences in the kind and quantum of resources offered to the Girls’ High School and the Boys’ Grammar School, compared to that offered to the newer Secondary schools. Two things were missing in this. First, the fact that a lot of what was built (and I do not necessarily mean physical) at that school was done by the alumnae with Mrs Keizer in the background, stirring them on. Secondly, even if that was so, the Boys’ Grammar School seemed not to have benefitted as much. And we can attribute this to the fact that there was no Norma Keizer at the Grammar School.

So, among the large crowd that turned up to last Tuesday’s funeral service were not only past and present students, but parents who recognised the difference she has made to the lives of their children. A number of past students journeyed back to be part of the final farewell. The funeral service was long, particularly because of the tributes which lasted for just under an hour and a half, but this didn’t matter to most persons there, for the tributes given to her reflected the total lady and captured for all the different sides of her, some of which might not have been familiar to everyone. They touched on all aspects of her life and really constituted a fitting memory to her. All of us who were there would have left with a picture of the total person. It was good to have had the school’s steelband on the programme because Mrs Keizer was instrumental in its establishment.

I knew some of the different sides of her, first as a student of hers for one year, while I was in the Lower Six of the Boys Grammar School and had to journey across to the Girls High School for history classes. I must say that she was the first person who inspired in me the love of history. When she had to go off the next year, for further studies the whole class missed her and did not perform as well. When I returned after studies abroad, I had the privilege of teaching with her for a couple months at the Girls’ High School, being among the first three males who had taught there. She had written two articles on Education that I found quite useful and have on occasions had to refer to them. Her work with the National Trust and the OAS were also extremely useful and provided valuable information for Vincentians who had an interest in the history of their country. I remembered working along with her, when in 1991 she coordinated a conference commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Kingshill Forest Reserve and the 226th anniversary of the Botanic Gardens. The proceedings of the conference were later published in a book entitled Islands, Forests and Gardens in the Caribbean, edited by Robert S. Anderson, Richard Grove and Karis Hiebert.

It was at Searchlight that I became a close associate of Norma. The early years at Searchlight were challenging, but memorable ones as we sought to find our way in the world of newspaper publishing. Bassy and I have a lot we can say, not only about the hiccups, and there were many, but also about the good times. We were, in any event, never discouraged, to a large extent because she helped to steady the ship. She had accepted our request to be Managing Editor, despite her lack of experience in the newspaper business. We all grew together and were proud as things began to take shape. Not everything worked out as the founding fathers had planned, but another newspaper was on the scene and allowed a multiplicity of views. In his tribute at Tuesday’s funeral service, Bassy spoke about the development of our relationship with the Nation newspaper and of the times when, because of the incompatibility of the computers, we had actually to take one of the computers to Barbados for them to download the finished product and to make any adjustments that were needed. The person who assisted from our end was Jerry George, who became our technical person. Mrs Keizer would perhaps be best remembered by Searchlight for the vision she had in pushing for a home and a printing press. Their existence today owes much not only to her foresight, but to her stubbornness, for other mortals might have been discouraged by the stumbling blocks that were always present. Such was the nature of the woman and I join others in saying farewell to one who has made a sterling contribution to her country.

Dr Adrian Fraser is a social commentator and historian.