It is with the heaviest of hearts that we announce the unexpected passing of ๐ ๐ฅ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ on Saturday, 31 December 2022.
๐๐ณ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ. ๐๐ด ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ, ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ, ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ญ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ.
While writing this tribute, it was very difficult to find words that accurately reflect what Mr Maree meant to Union. Since his appointment as an educator at Union in 1970, his relentless energy and deep dedication to the school, has certainly made a lasting impact.
It would be very interesting to calculate how many lives had been touched by Mr Mareeโs kindness, how many kilometres he had covered as he walked the corridors of the school and just how many people he had served during his 41-year tenure at Union…
Well, one could speculate, but it is safe to say that there is no one who surpasses his tally and this would certainly make him smile.
In 1980, after having served 10 years at the school, he was promoted to Head of Department, where he assumed responsibility for the Primary Department ensuring that thousands of learners were carefully sifted and moulded in his Mathematics class.
During his time at Union, Mr Maree also taught Senior Maths, Accounting and other commercial subjects.
In addition to teaching, Mr Maree had a great influence on the general development of the school. His contributions included a host of activities – both cultural and sporting.
He coached cricket, rugby and swimming. He was also responsible for the running of the Tony Burrell Union for 25 years, served as the secretary of the Old Unionite Association for 15 years and, for 20 years, he produced and edited the Focus magazine which reflected life at the school.
Of course, Scouts deserves a special paragraph. After taking over the reins from Mr Chookie Geard as scoutmaster in 1967, Mr Maree made it his mission in the 55 years that followed, to create an opportunity for every Scout joining the Troop, to obtain South Africaโs highest Scouting Award, the Springbok Badge. The Troop now has a proud record of 74 such Springbok Awards.
After retiring from the teaching profession in 2011, Mr Maree continued to be a regular presence at Union, and could be seen supporting the teams from the side-lines on a regular basis.
In 2014, during Interschools, his service to the school was commemorated with the official unveiling of the โBruce Maree Gatesโ โ it couldnโt be more fitting that these gates now serve to welcome all those entering the Union campus.
๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ก๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฉ, ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐ก๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐จ ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐ข๐๐ข๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐จ ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ค๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ข๐๐จ๐จ ๐๐๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ข๐ฉ๐, ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐๐จ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐๐ค๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐, ๐๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ก๐๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐ฎ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฎ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐๐จ๐ช๐ง๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ฃ๐.
Our thoughts at this time are with his family and friends.
