04 Mr. J. S. Kinsey (1974)

OBITUARY: J. S. KINSEY

By Mr. D. Dixon

In the early Spring we were all shocked to hear of the untimely death of our dear former colleague, Mr. John Kinsey, who taught at the school from 1959 to 1973, and even now, almost a year later, his friends can scarcely believe that they have been irrevocably deprived of his genial company. He served the school first as the master in charge of German, then as Head of Modern Languages and Senior Master and acting Deputy-Headmaster before receiving an excellent appointment with the Oxford Local Examination Board. He had a great love of detail and clearly enjoyed making the elaborate arrangements for school and external examinations and drawing up those inevitable duty lists that his office required. Yet these activities were never the end in themselves that they can become to less generous minds than his. He breathed humanity into the system and won the affection of all who worked with him. He was never ruffled, never hurried into unsatisfactory decisions, but approached his work with a spaciousness that enabled others to relax and make their contributions in a calm and reflective spirit. His quiet sense of humour was a delight, and we shall never forget his great gifts as an after-dinner speaker, when serious-minded men and women would clutch their sides in paroxysms of uncontrollable mirth under the influence of his wit and professional timing.

John Kinsey was a gentleman, considerate and self-effacing. There are too few of his kind in the world for his passing not to be a matter of infinite regret. He is greatly mourned by his pupils and colleagues who extend their deepest sympathy to Mrs. Kinsey and her three sons.

D.D.