Farewell to Warner Beach’s Simba
She taught locally before settling at Warner Beach Junior Primary School, where she taught standard one and class two for more than 25 years.
Scores gathered to celebrate the life of Raye King who was affectionately known by her guiding friends as ‘Simba,’ or just ‘Mrs King’ to her learners in the Warner Beach area for 50-odd years. She passed away last month at the age of 88 after suffering from a short illness.
Born and raised in a farming environment, she was educated at Pietermaritzburg Girls High before attending the Teacher’s Training College in Pietermaritzburg where she qualified as a teacher in 1952. She excelled in diving and life-saving at school, as well as netball, hockey and tennis.
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Her daughter, Diane King said, “She met her husband while playing hockey in Colenso as a student teacher in 1955. During 1957 she toured Europe on a Vespa Scooter with two of her friends from College. Their ship, the Europa, was the first to sail the Suez since it’s re-opening after WW2. She and Philip were engaged when the ship docked in Cape Town six months later and they travelled home to Natal on her scooter. They married in 1958 and honey-mooned in Port St Johns, still on her trusty Vespa.”
Living in Warner Beach, she taught locally before settling at Warner Beach Junior Primary School, where she taught standard one and class two for more than 25 years. She managed to find time to study further while raising her children and added a further two years to her diploma.
“She started her Guiding in Pietermaritzburg, where she was awarded her Queens Guide badge, Guiding’s highest award. She was chosen to represent Natal at the Royal Guide Rally in Cape Town as a teenager where Princess Elizabeth took the salute on her 21st birthday! She was among the Guides who helped out all over Pietermaritzburg during the floods of 1946. Her interest in Guiding never waned and she took over the 1st Southern Umlazi Guide Company in Warner Beach during the 1960’s. Having already met Lady Baden Powell at a Rally in Pietermaritzburg in 1950, she took her Guides to Reunion Airport to welcome her back to South Africa in 1970. It was an honour for her to be recognised by Lady BP 20 years later after the King’s Park Rally at a Guiders ‘pep talk!’”
Simba became a warranted Guider in 1969 and this year she would have received her 50 year Service Award.
“The ‘1969 International Year of the Child Library Scheme’ started by Alan Fearon, became one of her pet projects when she took over as chairperson. This scheme provided numerous reading books to schools and African scholars over the years. She served the Guiding organisation in many portfolios, including WAGGGS accredited trainer, Southern Natal Regional President, Teddy Guider, and started the Kingsway Trefoil Guild in 1981 for all ‘ex’ Guiding members. In 1992 she represented South Africa at the ‘Links’ International Guiders Camp in Yorkshire, England. She ran the first Kingsway Guide Company for 40 years.”
In 2001 she was awarded the Bronze Award for dedicated service to the Guiding movement. She was also a life member of the Girl Guide Association.
Simba loved the great outdoors and was very knowledgeable about our flora and fauna, the starry night sky, animals and their tracks. She arranged many camps for Guides over the years. Annual Jamboree of the Air (JOTA) Camps were held at Toti Guide Hut with radio ham Carol Siedle, which gave the girls the opportunity to contact Guides and Scouts from all over the world.
Guiding was a way of life for Simba, who kept and lived by her guide promise and laws. All she ever wanted was that young girls and adults would find that the spirit of guiding could provide the same for them through-out their lives. She will be missed by all who knew her.
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