On Saturday 15 May, Brother Peter Henderson, fms, went home to God after a short illness.

He came to Greymouth in 1980 and spent his time in the workshop, coaching boys sport and teaching Religious Education. He was the first Director of Religious Studies in the new-style integrated Catholic Secondary School, John Paul II High School. Brother Peter left in 1990, for various posts in the North Island. He never forgot his time on the Coast and delighted in meeting up with Coasters.

Peter is remembered for the videos he showed his classes as he attempted to bring Jesus’ message into their lives. Jacey Waihi remembers that following a particularly graphic film of the Holocaust, she couldn’t sleep for a couple of nights. Mrs Webster remembers relieving for one of his RE classes where he’d left the video ‘Life of Brian’ to be the focus of the class work. This amazed her, as when it first came to Greymouth, she had to walk through a picket line to get in to see the movie. Four years later, it was being shown in a Catholic school!

Mrs Zampese was co-Form Teacher with Bro. Peter and remembers him as a kind, generous man who was always available with good advice to help with teenagers.

Teachers at JPII were a very social staff in the early days. The Brothers’ House was always welcoming and many a happy hour was spent either on the lawn or in the spacious front room. This continued when they shifted to Joyce Crescent. I think he enjoyed feeling part of the wider school family. Br Peter was often found entertaining the babies, as he was always invited to the birthday parties and possibly enjoyed the babies’ presents more than they did! Jason Leask’s fire engine comes to mind. It frightened Jason, but Peter had lots of fun with the little fireman climbing the ladder. It must have been his “technology” focused mind.

In recent years, Peter renewed his connections with the West Coast when he met up with Mrs Webster and Mr Leask at the Marist Chapter in 2010 in Auckland. Peter became the official chauffeur for the Champagnat in the Pacific course and so collected the different staff members from John Paul II as they went to learn more about the Marist Charism. Ms John’s recalls the nervous feeling she had as Peter took the back roads from Long Bay to the airport. She was very concerned that they would never get to the airport in time. Br Peter had worked out a route that avoided major roads and intersections, meaning they all got a wonderful ‘tiki tour’ of Auckland for no extra cost!

Brother Peter was a simple man with a beautiful Marist heart. A true and deep faith to be admired. May he Rest In Peace.