Rob was a founder member of Falcon and joined the College in the 2nd Term of 1954. He was in Tredgold House and his interests were 1st Team Rugby and Water Polo, though he played some cricket. Rob also acted in school productions like ‘Arms and the Man’.
Rob’s interest in English was nurtured by Dougal Turner and he was later to take a degree in Linguistics and become Head of the English Department of The Teachers’ College in Bulawayo. Rob was a gifted teacher and lecturer and even today many ex TTC students remember how he inspired their careers. He ran in-service English Courses for teachers in Zimbabwe and was very well known in education circles.
Later Rob joined BP/Shell as a result of his friendship with another Falcon College friend, Jerry Musson. Here he developed all the training programmes for BP Africa while heading up the Training Department for BP/Shell. His courses were said to be practical and original as he wrote them himself. Recently, in Harare, a business trophy was named after him in recognition of the work he did in the human skills of businesses all over Zimbabwe, and indeed Africa.
Rob opened his own business, Nutac Training, in July 1989 and one of the things he did was to write and deliver a very successful Leadership Programme for Falcon College which was used in the training of the Prefects – and later used by other Independent schools in Zimbabwe.
In his early years, Rob lived in Cadiz, Spain and he continued to love that country – its language, music and history – to the end of his life. In the same way, Falcon College always influenced Rob’s love of wildlife and birds in particular. Many will remember too that he had a wide knowledge of Jazz music and loved listening to it.
In 2005 Rob and his wife came to live in Perth, Australia to be near family. Here too he was involved in some management training work, and developing and writing courses until his death from Emphysema this year. This was an illness he suffered through courageously for some years.
Rob is survived by his loving wife Olga and his children Nikki and her husband Gavin Parker and their children Brooke and Callum as well as his daughter Kathryn Hounsell. He will be remembered by his family and friends as an engaging, vibrant man with a wonderful sense of humour and a passion for things that interested him.
From The Falcon Magazine, 2012