Memories
- Memories - SJ Lowcock
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In memory of SJ Lowcock - David Wong Class of 1965
By most traditional measures, Mr. Lowcock might not have been considered a very religious man. However, he was the most Christ-ian person I have known in my entire 64 years. I am sure many of you will be sharing examples of his love, generosity, self-sacrifice and total dedication to his students. He was a supreme educator, not just by words, but by how he lived. I was somewhat surprised that he was only 81 when he passed away. That would make him in his early to mid-30s when he was my Headmaster at DBS. How could someone so young be so wise, so devoid of ego, and have such deep understanding of human psychology? These are attributes that one could only hope to attain, even with many more years of life experience.
It is probably well known that students had total access to his life and his home. Though, for various reasons, not everyone took advantage of that. Well, I was one of the few that took full advantage. Since I had planned to leave for the U.S. after Lower 6, I intentionally spent quite a bit of time hanging out at his house or going to movies with him during my latter years at DBS. I wanted to listen, observe and learn from this extraordinary man as much as I could.
One of the many, many lessons I had learned from Mr. Lowcock was unconditional love. One day I walked into our school gym and discovered there was a brand new trampoline. Since there was only one other student there, I immediately tried it out, even though I still had my street shoes on. Two days later, Mr. Lowcock was substituting for a sick teacher in our classroom. He brought up the incident and gave me a stern dressing down in front of the whole class. He accused me of having no regard for public property and being irresponsible because I had left shoe prints all over the new trampoline. Being guilty of both, I could offer no excuse.
After school that day, I ran across Mr. Lowcock on the steps in front of the football fields. I started joking around with him. After sharing a couple of laughs, he said, “Yes I know you love me too.” By that he was acknowledging the fact that my regards for him did not waver despite the public tongue lashing earlier. It also showed that I had complete trust in his unconditional love. Under normal circumstances, a guilty school boy would try to avoid the Headmaster at all cost, let alone going up and joking around with him. That encounter also validated for me, once again, that his love would not diminish no matter what I did wrong.
Mr. Lowcock never specifically talked to me about unconditional love. He didn’t have to. He lived it. Now his unconditional love had come full circle. The lesson was completed. Mr. Lowcock’s gift was not just that he offered love unconditionally, but he also taught me how to love others the same way.
After I went to college, I sent him a letter or two. I never heard back from him. He was then focusing on all the students still at DBS and sharing his life and love with them, just as he did with me. Was I hurt that he didn’t respond? No. I understood completely. And he knew I would.
David Wong
Class of 1965
