ON Tuesday morning, 13 October at 4.20am, Maureen Peddie died peacefully of natural causes at Umdoni’s Care Centre at the age of 95.
She had been visited and comforted daily by family and friends since arriving in August.
Connice Maureen Peddie (born Gracie) was a beloved mother, grandmother, sister, teacher, mentor and friend. She was born in Tzaneen, the oldest of three children to Martha Jessie and Robert D’Heil Gracie on 27 July 1920.
After attending Grahamstown University, Maureen took her first teaching post in the remote town of Umzinto in 1941. There she met the Peddie family and went through the terrible war years before she married her husband and father of Cheryl and Beverley, Desmond Cowan Peddie on 5 October 1946. Sadly, Desmond died on 10 February 1995.
Maureen joined Scottburgh Primary School in 1957 after having given birth to her first child, Cheryl, eight months prior. When the high and primary school split in 1979, she was appointed as the vice principal of the primary school.
Even though she was a strict teacher, Maureen was fair and loving, a phenomenal teacher. She loved to proudly recount stories of her past pupils. When Maureen retired from Scottburgh Primary School, she supported her husband, Desmond, in his venture in moving to the remote town of Shakawe in Botswana, on the Okavango River. After spending a year there, a local family down river with two boys aged eight and 10 discovered Maureen was a teacher. These boys had never been to school and Maureen, with the support of books from Scottburgh Primary School, began teaching them. After three years of her tuition, they were accepted into Treverton (grades six and seven) where they continued and eventually completed their schooling.
Many of Maureen’s ex-pupils speak of how they were inspired to become teachers due to her influence in their lives in her class.
One such student said: “She touched so many of our lives and her legacy lives though each one of us.” Another pupil stated: “I often played ‘schools’ and, of course, I was Mrs Peddie.” Scottburgh Primary School named its school hall the CM Peddie Hall after her, a fitting tribute for a woman of her calibre.
Maureen started teaching, following in the footsteps of her mother. She once commented that she was so proud that her daughter, Cheryl Ross, taught alongside her in Scottburgh Primary before she retired. This legacy is continuing past her two daughters who are teachers, with her eldest grandson, Shaun Ross who has also been teaching since 2005.
She is survived by her brother Trevor Gracie, daughters; Cheryl Ross, and Beverly Butler-Smith; son-in-laws Dave Ross and Barry Butler-Smith; grandsons Shaun Ross and Kevin Ross and her granddaughter-in-law, Ismaray Ross. A memorial service will be held on Thursday, 22 October at 10am in the Scottburgh Methodist Church.
A commemorative plaque will be placed on the Scottburgh wall of remembrance next to the golf course, in the cemetery and Maureen’s ashes will be scattered in Scottburgh Primary School.
Maureen’s family extend special thanks to all who contributed to her better quality of life and every happy moment shared.
