Cheryl La Hood October 1945 - 5th September 2024

This week we farewelled a wonderful mind, a superb teacher, a devoted partner to Ron and to her extended family and my loyal and supportive friend Cheryl La Hood. Cheryl died after a long and courageous battle with physical weakness over the last two years and is now at peace.

I first met Cheryl on the feminists committees of the 1970's where she was leading the struggle to improve the lives of women and children. She was a leader in Educational circles in the 80's: President of OATE, Secretary of the Otago branch of PPTA , PPTA Representative on the CTU and member of the board of the Polytech.

Cheryl was always at the forefront of  Educational change- always happy to take leadership roles in Professional Development, and volunteered to lead the  revolution in Assessment in the 90's.

The Cheryl we all remember is the very knowledgeable scholarly teacher who worked so hard to achieve such wonderful examination results for her students. The teacher who made many personal sacrifices to direct  many, many plays, coach debating teams and run speech competitions. She made a huge contribution to the cultural life of Otago Girls'.

On a personal note I will miss her lively conversation and her encyclopaedic knowledge of films, poetry and drama. I will miss the conversation, the wonderful hospitality and her positive support in times of trouble.

Haere ra my dear, dear friend. I won't forget the golden times we spent together - me in K8, you in K10 sharing our lives for 30 years across the corridor, sharing so much. Although you are gone out of our lives, you will be forever in our hearts.