Obituary: Kenneth Trembath

Kenneth Alexander Trembath left Auckland Grammar School in 1985 to become principal of James Cook High School in Manurewa. At that time he was already regarded as a Grammar institution by thousands of pupils.

He had then been Grammar's deputy headmaster since 1980 and his James Cook appointment was regarded as unusual - but only in so far as he had then taught at only one school, starting in 1963.

Many teachers make contributions long remembered by their pupils- but not often as many as Ken Trembath. An Auckland Grammar old boy himself, he was known to pupils as "Kat" and by fellow teachers as "Trembers".

He arrived to teach English (he graduated with first-class honours in English) and Latin, rising to head the English department. From 1971-78, helped by his wife, Jocelyn, he was senior housemaster at the school hostel, Tibbs House. He was dean of form 7 from 1980 and also responsible for the induction of teachers starting their careers at Grammar.

He guided dramatic productions and oversaw and co-ordinated cultural, dramatic and musical productions. He edited the school Chronicle from 1964 to 1970. He organised the prize-givings and as a sports master, coached school rugby, soccer and cricket and was also at one time in charge of yachting.

He was also a church organist and choirmaster and played softball for an Auckland representative team. For many years he marked external exams. He recorded many hours of poetry for the Talking Books Service for the blind and was a one-time president of the Auckland Classical Association. He tutored at the Auckland Technical Institute and also at the Auckland University centre for continuing education and the Auckland Teachers' College

But his work at Auckland Grammar which leaves his ties with the school best preserved was his authorship in 1969 of his "labour of love" - the school's centennial history Ad Augusta, a readable, 420-page tome which demanded hundreds of hours of painstaking scholarship.

At James Cook High, Ken Trembath took over from the foundation principal, Max Lane, who had been in charge for 18 years. He led the school through what was possibly the greatest change in New Zealand's schools last century - the introduction of Tomorrow's Schools. This was a testing time and Ken Trembath's leadership ensured James Cook High came through it in good shape.

Current principal Bryan Smith recalls a colleague who could comfortably tell a joke against himself. He remembers an instance when Kat, having not long been at the school, stopped a group of boys on their way to school and told them to "pull their socks up, and look the part". The boys looked at him with junior school insolence, so he added, "I'm your new principal at James Cook High and I want you to set an example." To which the boys replied: "Sir, we go to Manurewa High School."

An enduring legacy of Ken Trembath's time at the college was the establishment of a marae, which has since grown into a significant secondary school complex, Te Pou Herenga Waka.

Ken Trembath retired from James Cook High School in 1994. He was appointed a founding teacher at the Senior College of New Zealand in 1995, and spent the next 10 years teaching English there before ill health forced him to resign.

He is survived by his wife, Jocelyn, children Lesley, Susan and John, and son-in-law Dougie.