Retired teacher celebrates 90th birthday
Alex Pullinger, a teacher of the former Alberton English Medium School says he just has great memories of Alberton.
ALEX Pullinger, who recently turned 90, jokingly said that he does not feel any change from being 89.
“Time just went on and before you know it, you are this age. When you are young you think reaching 90 years seems like an eternity and I believe I have now reached eternity.”
Alex, a school teacher who was born in Germiston and has been living in Alberton for the past 67 years, has made a difference in the lives of his pupils, many of whom he is still in contact with today.
Connie Rogers, who was in his Standard Four (Grade Six) class at Alberton English Medium School (today known as Alberton Primary School), has stayed in touch and was privileged to be able to join him for lunch to celebrate his 90th birthday at Cherubs Coffee Shop.
The owner of the coffee shop, Isabel Moutsatsos’ husband Manny was also one of Alex’s former pupils and she very kindly baked him a cake for the occasion. Her staff also sang to him, to much delight of the other patrons.
“He looked very well-groomed in his blue school jacket with the Alberton English Medium School badge,” said Connie, who was in his class in 1960.
“He was strict but fair and kind. He introduced us to the new decimal monetary system which was going to be implemented in 1961, from pounds, shillings and pence to rands and cents – he had three very shiny and very large 1 cent coins for all his students to become familiar with.”
Alex said that he is blessed to have been able to live this long as he has great memories of Alberton and his teaching career.
“When one is this old you are blessed with so many memories. One can almost call it a memory treasure chest. Areas such as Randhart, Meyersdal and Brackenhurst were all commercial farms that gave Alberton that country look. I have seen how Alberton turned into a modern town that it is today,” he said.
“It hurts to see that the current leadership no longer cares in making our immediate environments pretty like it was in the past.”
He said that his recipe for a long and healthy life he is that people should stop thinking about the past, but instead should look forward to the future.
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