The boy who was schooled at Queen’s College and vowed to come back as the headmaster of Queen’s College Boys’ Primary School tells you of Lester Pike’s dedication to his Alma Mater.
After spending many years at Selborne Primary, he assumed duties as headmaster of Komga Primary. When the previous headmaster of Queen’s College Boys’ Primary School retired at the beginning of 2018, Lester jumped at the opportunity to return to the school where it all began. He assumed duties as headmaster at the beginning of the third term in 2018.
From the outset it was evident that Lester had the school at heart and was wanting to be involved in all aspects of the life of the school. He also built up a very good relationship with the heads of the surrounding schools and encouraged collaboration between the various schools.
Lester was always welcoming with his office door standing wide open, he was always keen to have a chat and when asked, willing to lend advice that he could pull from his years of experience. Many of my ideas, which I thought were pretty good, were often changed by suggestions which were even better. As a true leader, he would not only provide advice, but would often ask his team for guidance and suggestions in various situations.
I am going to miss the early morning chats, when I made a point of going to his office to simply greet him at the start of the day. Most times the simple,” good morning”, became a half-hour of throwing ideas around to make our school even better.
Even during the tough times of the beginning of the pandemic, and even now as we are currently enduring and fighting, he made sure that our school would remain fully functional and that academics would remain at the forefront. He was an advocate of not leaving any boy behind and he endeavoured to ensure that the young boys were fully equipped with the necessary skills in the years that lie ahead.
He always encouraged me to create a balance between work and family, and spoke fondly of his own family. He always spoke proudly of his wife, Joan, and her work in the classrooms of Queen’s College. Many stories were shared of his daughter, Micaela’s tutoring of Mathematics and his son, Duncan’s new job in Johannesburg.
Even though his stay at our school has been cut far too short, he has made a huge impact on his beloved Queen’s College. He is going to be sorely missed by his team at Queen’s College Boys’ Primary School, but we will always cling on to and treasure the myriad of memories that he will always be a part of.
Our heartfelt condolences go out to Joan, Micaela, Duncan and the rest of his family. All our love and prayers go out to them at this time.