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Farewell, Mrs Boscombe

BY Administrator


In 2013, it was Kim Daniels, now a SABC reporter, who wrote a welcome article for Mrs Boscombe with these words: “It is always a pleasure to welcome a friendly face to Riebeek College. She describes working at Riebeek as an opportunity to be back at her alma mater. Her first day back on the school grounds as a staff member was extremely chaotic. However, Mrs Boscombe said the girls and the staff members were incredibly kind, helpful and supportive. She describes herself as blessed, as she gets to be at school with her daughter and work with some of her old teachers. Mrs Boscombe loves working at Riebeek as she felt welcome from the very beginning.”
 
Mrs Boscombe is an Old Girl from the Class of 1985.  She qualified with an N4 Secretarial and N5 Computers qualification at the then Port Elizabeth Technicon. After her studies, Mrs Boscombe decided to pursue her passion and work at Volkswagen where was the PA to a manager at VWSA and where she learnt the valuable skills of multi -tasking and working under pressure.  She then worked at Muir College. 
 
In 2013, Mrs Boscombe moved from our brother school to residing in the front office. And so it was that from 2013 to 1 November 2020, Mrs Boscombe served the school with passion and due diligence.  She was at Riebeek when her daughter, Tayla, matriculated in 2015 and it was a beautiful sight to behold her pride as Tayla amassed awards and achievements, such as being elected as the Uitenhage Junior Mayor and a school prefect.  Mrs Boscombe was equally proud of her son, Jarred, who graduated with a B.Sc from NMU. 
 
When Mrs Nel moved to George in October 2019, Mrs Boscombe made a move too as she swopped desks and position from being the School Receptionist to being the Principal’s Secretary. It was in this position that she truly flourished as she was cool and calm when everybody wanted to see Mrs Stear at the same time, with multiple files open on her computer and piles of paperwork to send to the department and multiple queries all at once.  Mrs Boscombe was unflappable and thoroughly organised.  This should have been a hard transition with a different job description, but Mrs Boscombe learned the ropes as if magically. 
 
Mrs Boscombe enjoyed the early morning hugs from the junior girls as it was to her a wonderful way to start the day, being sung to her on her birthday by the prefects, countless drawing , pictures, messages and letters from the girls, helping girls with grazed knees feel better with love and a Band Aid, Secretaries’ Day lunches and the staff development at Tsitsikamma when the staff took on zip-lining.
 
We will remember her term of endearment for the girls of “little sausage”.  We will remember her infinite patience with the little ones and how caring she was when a lift had not arrived, when a child was distraught, when kind words were needed.  We will remember that Mrs Boscombe showed compassion and discretion with her colleagues and endeavoured to make the world a better place.  We will remember her stint as a hostel duty teacher and how her family grew as she took on mothering the girls of the hostel.  We will remember the precision of her work and her capacity to keep it together when there was chaos. 
 
Mrs Boscombe accepted in October a position at Grey High School as secretary to the rector and many have commented that she will spread love wherever she goes, that her joyful personality, kindness and warm smile will touch lives wherever she goes.
 
Nomaya Mtengenya described our feelings well when she wrote on the Riebeek Facebook Page: “Bittersweet news. Where will we get that welcoming smile again?  You represented Riebeek well through that window.  All the best in your future endeavours.”
 
Mrs Stear, principal of Riebeek College, wrote, “Loren has been a discreet, kind, consummate professional who thrived in her time at Riebeek.  I am very jealous that Grey will gain such a gem but I know that this new adventure will be very rewarding for Loren.  I will miss Loren’s sense of humour, her ability to find any document no matter how well hidden it is and her ability to weather the sometimes angry parents who have misunderstood a situation and believe they have been wronged. The ever patient Loren became a master negotiator at explaining the processes so that conflict could be resolved and a good working relationship between the parent and the school could be attained.  Loren has contributed positively at Riebeek and we wish her the best.”
 
In her spare time, Mrs Boscombe enjoys reading, puzzle building and spending time with her family. Without the daily trek to and from Uitenhage, we hope that Mrs Boscombe will have a little more time for these hobbies. 
 
Erma Bombeck wrote these words which Mrs Boscombe has always valued: “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left but could say I’ve used everything you gave me.” 
 
Another favourite quote of Mrs Boscombe is this written by James Dean, “I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”  We are glad that Mrs Boscombe sailed through our lives at Riebeek and wish her a steady course and safe harbours. 
 
 

 October 29, 2020
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2020
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