Douglas, Keith

Tulk Housemaster and chemistry teacher

Date of Death: 11/09/2016

Taken from The Gazette 65

On 17 October we were saddened to hear about the death of former teacher Keith Douglas in this poignant message from his sister:

I am writing to inform you of the sad loss of my brother Norman KEITH Douglas. He taught Chemistry at the school from the early Seventies until the closure. He passed away on 11 September 2016. It was sudden and a terrible shock. I feel I have lost my best friend. He certainly was a character and very well respected in Standish and the Wigan area. Keith fought tirelessly to improve the community of Standish and has spent his life since retirement campaigning energetically to nurture and improve it. He was referred to as ‘Mr Standish’. I feel truly blessed and very proud that he was my brother.  Regards, Elaine Parker

OSOBS member John Cashman, on having heard of Keith’s passing, wrote to Elaine as follows:

Dear Elaine,
I was gutted to hear of Keith’s death. He was a superb chap, and I kept in regular contact with him long after leaving the school in 1980. He was my housemaster as well as chemistry teacher. Instead of telling you all the dozens of reasons why I thought he was such a great teacher, a superlative housemaster, and a general 100% bona fide splendid fellow all round, I just want to mention two incidents that are seared into my memory. They demonstrate his sense of justice and his ability to be firm, fair and humane. Also he was genuinely one of the greatest teachers I met in my 20?year career as a pupil and student. Summer ’77 (I think) , the gym, summer exams:

An older pupil, a Dick Featherstone, a bit of a troublemaker, and quite a large, thuggish and tall young man, was making a nuisance of himself in an exam. The invigilator was quite a weak, shy, man and Dick was humiliating him. The teacher lacked the authority to manage the situation. It started out as fairly harmless ribbing, then began to get unpleasant as Dick played to the audience of boys seated in the gym and bullied the poor man. Most of the pupils wished he’d stop and were cringing, as it was embarrassing and unfunny. As it happened there was due to be a change of invigilator, and Keith entered the hall. He witnessed exactly what was going on. He walked over to Dick’s desk and stood there for a few moments in silence. There was the sound of a colossal slap as the side of Dick’s head connected firmly with Keith’s fast?moving palm, and Dick was sent sprawling to the floor. Keith never said a word, then or until the end of the exam. There was no further disruption at that exam, or indeed any other exams that summer, and Keith’s kudos with the boys went through the roof. We all agreed it was absolutely the right thing to do.

December ‘78  - I was a dorm leader in Tulk House, Keith’s house. We were planning a secret end?of?term party in the woods, complete with contraband booze and food, to be smuggled into the school by the father of one of the lads in my dorm. My dorm mate was a Jack the Lad, his dad was more so and was going to drive his big booze?laden Jaguar saloon to a nearby road in the dead of night, where the illegal booty would be unpacked and hidden by a handpicked squad from my dorm. This was to be the night before the party. I remember this clearly. It was the night before the secret party in the woods, and the second in command for the operation was standing with his back to the open dormitory door. He ran through the plans for the night:

“Sam’s dad will arrive at midnight, we’ll sneak out through thechanging room windows on the ground floor, meet the car, move the booze to that shed in the grounds, cover it with camo webbing and leaves …” etc. etc. From his face we could see that he thought it was odd we were all gurning and making strangulated noises, but he pressed on until he realised that Keith was standing right behind him, having  appeared quietly just before he started to summarise the plans. Keith had heard every word; he’d been standing two feet behind him.  So naturally we thought that was that. “Lights out at ten boys, sleep well!” he said in his Lancastrian accent. And off he went.  We had an amazing night the following evening, and the next morning I got to enjoy my first ever hangover. I clearly didn’t know you don’t drink Martini straight, but usually with a mixer. I still think about that evening, 38 years later. I will never forget that – he turned a blind eye so we could have some fun. I will never forget Keith, a unique and wonderful man.

I have been helping my 14 year old daughter with her GCSE Chemistry – I remember it all, Keith taught me, I even remember the lessons. I am sorry you have lost your brother, but I hope it  helps that you know he made such an impact on so many people. Best Wishes, Jon Cashman Tulk House OT 566 1976 ? 1980