In Memory

Peter Shave

Peter Shave taught at SXS from 1957 to 1990. He was very popular among his students and is best remembered for his arts and crafts classes, his English lessons and his piano playing. He passed away in Hazaribag on the evening of July 2nd, 2014 after suddenly taking ill and being rushed to the hospital. His funeral was  held July 3rd 2014 at Christian cemetery, Hazaribag at 4pm. He is survived by Mrs Shave, his daughter Cindy and grandchildren. A memorial mass will be conducted in his honor at Cathedral Church, Hazaribag, at 11 am this Sunday, July 13 2014. All Hoxans are welcome to attend. 

info provided by Fr PJ James Principal SXS. 

Peter Shave in Oct 2013; courtesy Bulu Imam

Mr. Shave with a self portrait. Photo courtesy S Lakshmipathy, '62

 

painting on the back of a match box by Mr. Shave: photo courtesy Ronodeb Paul'72

***Scroll down to view/post condolence messages*****

Video Clips of Peter Shave interview taken from School documentary produced in 2008

Please press F5 button on your keyboard if you wish to view the clips a second time. 

 

Video clip#1 (approx 1 min)

 

Video clip #2 (approx 1 min 40secs)

Staff photos with Mr. Shave can be found on our website under Staff/Teachers/Staff photos from the left menu panel. A class photo with Mr. Shave as class teacher can be viewed under Photo Albums/Class photos/ class of 1978.

Memorial Mass on July 13th at Cathedral Church (photos courtesy Bijay Jain '89)


Request from Cindy Shave for Hoxans

Peter Shave's daughter, Cindy is planning to bring out a small booklet on her Dad. She requests Hoxans to email her at kumarhyacinth@yahoo.in if they would like to include any messages.


Web admin note: this obit page is a work in progress. We would like to honor Mr. Shave by adding  more material about him and hopefully more examples of his artwork to this page with your help. Pl email material you would like to add to this page to nicumd@gmail.com

View/post condolence messages below



 
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15/07/14 01:37 AM #42    

Rajiv Mahajan (1964)

It was very sad to hear of the passing of our Arts & crafts teacher Mr. Peter Shave. I was looking forward to meeting him during my planned visit to the school for our batch's Golden Jubilee at the end of this year.

 

I still use his ideas and techniques while trying to teach drawing to my grandchildren and always telling them who taught me when they ask where I learnt to draw. He was the only Arts teacher I ever had.

My condolences to his family. Will always remember Mr.Shave. R.I.P.

 

Rajiv Mahajan

1964


15/07/14 08:26 AM #43    

Manish Kumar Raman (1999)

RIP, was sad to hear this a finest teacher i would say i ever had in my journey to schoolings


27/07/14 01:33 AM #44    

Yashraj Bhatnagar (1976)

Mr. Peter Shave was an exceptional teacher and his contribution to my life remains a treasure. The innovations he brought to the teaching of English, not to mention crafts and piano, through his long innings at St. Xavier's Hazaribagh are worthy of the history books. I always looked forward to his English class on Fridays -- that's when he taught us words, vocabulary, spelling, and other intricacies of language through competitive games held right there in the class-room. What little imagination I have, it is mostly due to Mr Shave.

Thank you Mr. Shave, and please get some rest in that eternal peace.

Yashraj Bhatnagar

1976 batch


31/07/14 06:52 AM #45    

Tom Mundakel (1978)

Peter Shave was my teacher from class 5 to 8. It was real exciting to work on his arts and crafts projects. Some of the plywood projects we did were: toy gun with a trigger, an owl that could move its ears if you pulled strings behind it and  a rabbit on a stand; we also made a paper tiger and a paper house. I was pretty bad at the art projects, but managed to finish them all (sometimes with the help of a cousin -or a carpenter who would be working at home!). Early on the biggest problem was breaking a lot of fret saw blades. Mr. Shave would stop giving us replacements after we had broken a few, would then have to buy them from a hardware store on Gurugobind Rd. Amitava Mondal and Rangam Mukherjee were some of the top artists/crafts guys in our '1978 batch. Some of the more artistically inclined boys would use softwood instead of plywood to fashion their artwork. In Class 8 having Mr. Shave teach us English was a delight. He was the one who guided us in our reading of Scarlet Pimpernel, demonstrating how to pronounce the names of the French characters in the novel. English classes were spiced up with word games..one of the favorite ones was "word boxes"..... See example below:

The same four words whether you read them from top to bottom or left to right. Mr. Shave would give the class the first word, and whoever finished the puzzle first would be given a certain number of points. 

Who can forget the  background score Mr. Shave played on the piano  for the play "The Monkey's paw"?  The most frightening moment in the play  when the dead zombie character appears all bandaged up at the door.....is made all the more scary with  Mr. Shave's  spinetingling piano flourishes.  

I was fortunate enough to meet and personally thank Mr. Shave in 2008 and again in Jan 2013. Even though he is no more now, he lives  on in the minds of hundreds of his appreciative students. 

 

 


16/08/14 01:04 PM #46    

Birendra Kumar Sinha (1966)

This was the first time that opened the HOXA page. The passing away of the Peter Shave has hit me as some kind of a shock.  Mr Shave, as he normally called in those days, taught us drawing and woodcraft.  I was good at neither.  Yet, he never failed me.  I remember him always immaculately dressed in dapper bright coloured half shirts with a quip for every occasion. We had been promoted to 10th standard and Mr Shave was supervising, if that be the word, the evening studies. A hum of noise arose over some issue and it turned to chattering of a ribble. This immediately brought Mr Shave to the scene. He entered clanking his heels, those days it was in fashion to star shaped studs on your shoes, so that we could be adequately forewared of the imminent appearance of the wearer.  I look of Mr Shave reduced us to immediatel silence. He asked "what is it all about?" None would answer, the wit of class, Ramesh Mishra already having dropped behind  to repeat a class earlier. He began" I do not care whether you are in the 10th or the 20th standard.  The Rule silence is to be maintained during the evening studies,"  This drew smiles on many lips, except perhaps on those of Biswajeet Banerjee and Ajoy Sinha who, who locked in a fierce competition for the Dux of School next year, were too engrossed in their studies.  That evening this remark was the topic of discussion over four tables in the dining hall.  Biswajeet Banerjee eventually went ahead to become the Dux of the School, get the coveted Rhodes Scholar and now contributes to the weird policies of the IMF.

In one of the earlier class, VIIth it was, Shami Ahmad, who was a head taller than rest of us and for this earned the instant sobriquet of 'lamp post' from Mr Shave happened to be surprisingly genuinely fond of him.  He had a gifted pair if hands. He decided to make a chair for his daughter in a woodwork class.  We watched his sawing, chisseling, drilling and nailing till the chair tool shape before our eyes. Mr Shave accepted it with gratitude.

REst well Sir, in your peaceful abode.  I am sure your fingers must be working our the magic that they were capable of in drawing the images of Lord Jesus Christ.  Rest Well Sir for you have earned it Well.    

  


30/08/14 04:13 PM #47    

Abhijit Chatterjee (1987)

I feel blessed for having such a teacher in my life. Such teachers are Blessings and Source of Inspirations for all times and unforgettable. Sir, your life with us have made us what we are today and we could never have been this way without your contribution and tender touch during our school days.

When I travel back my time, I see myself in the craft room, trying to cut a piece of plywood and breaking blades. I look up and you standing with a smile and then showing me how to hold the blade straight and tightening the hacksaw. What was more, u stood there to see me cutting the whole piece without breaking again. It was evening time and all had left, but u never gave up teaching your student. Your warmth of kind attention and love for us had been so sincere that I can still feel.  Such teachers are priceless and I honor you with undivided attention and bow to your soul. May you rest in peace.

With Love and Respect.


08/10/14 08:33 PM #48    

Satrajit Choudhury (1964)

On a December morning in 1964 I walked into Mr. Shave's office in the main building to request him to write a few words that he thought appropriate in my autograph book. He happily obliged and spiritedly wrote: "Let all the Badmashi that you have learnt at School stand you in good stead in life". And then signed as: "Peter ('Teko') Shave". I stood there quite stunned for a few minutes as I did not expect him to sign off as 'Teko' (meaning 'bald' in Bengali & perhaps also in Hindi). His nickname among the students during our time at School was 'Teko' Shave. He had a big smile on his face as he looked at me and perhaps thought 'You did not know that I know you boys call me 'Teko'. Such was his spirit and sense of humour.

He taught me table tennis when I was in Class 4 and 5. He was brilliant on the piano. The stirring music score  in the Monkey's Paw. At crafts he instructed me and helped me make two leather belts, one of which I still have with me. He was also great with photography and sepia printing of images which I had learnt from him.

Past few months I have been thinking of him very strongly - not knowing that he passed away. Perhaps his spirit's call from heaven. He was a great instructor and an even greater human being. Such people cometh rare. It was a rare privilege to have been under his tutelage. Closer to God, Sir, may you RIP.

Satrajit Choudhury. Class of 1964


24/04/15 01:11 PM #49    

Kevin Redden (1969)

My connection with Peter Shave went a little further than most can boast. Fr John Moore introduced my father & mother to Peter and suggested he spend a holiday with our family in Kharagpur. It was during this holiday that my mother introduced a pretty young single lady teacher from the local St Agnes' convent school to Peter. This young lady was to become his wife Jane.

When I decided to revisit SXH which I called a "home coming" after 42 years in 2012 -it was the diamond jubilee celebration. I had the following must do priorities as I knew it was going to be my journey of a lifetime....

*Enjoy the experience of walking around all the old haunts & reliving all the exciting moments of growing up

 *Meet as many of the SJs/teachers & students (boarders & day scholars),especially Peter & Jane, who were still  on this earthly journey, for maybe just one more time.

*Visit Sitagarh to pay homage to the founding SJs who shaped our lives and showed us what sacrifice, selflessness, committment & faith can achieve.  If we were looking for God -it was in everyone of these saints.

My prayer for all of them ..is   "THANK YOU".

To Jane & Cindy -our sincerest condolences from the whole Redden Family.

 

Kevin Redden

Melbourne Australia

rredden@optusnet.com au


30/05/15 01:43 AM #50    

Ramesh Singh (1984)

Very shocking!!
He was a person of different personalities!
Either craft or drawing/painting or music or literature..any thing!
I used to visit his house very many times at Dipu Garhha..canary hill.
I remember..he invented himself a bicycle to run on battery in 1979.
Hats off to the personality!!
Too late..but..not delayed..May God give respect to his Soul..!!!

12/11/19 08:11 PM #51    

Vikram S. Rana (1993)

I understood what English language and literature was firstly through Mr Shave I used to go to his house for tutions and sometimes Sir had even visited my house. I was very close to him. May God give peace to his soul . We were not near him in his last times is a misfortune for all of us. please forgive us Sir.

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