Scotch College

Vale Vic Nash (staff 1964 - 85)

Vic Nash’s influence on boys’ lives extended far further than the classroom, as his son David recalls.

WORDS: DAVID NASH (’74)

Vic Nash was christened Wilfred Victor, however, due to someone’s ambiguous handwriting, there was confusion about whether he was officially Wilfrid or Wilfred. He was known in Melbourne as Vic, and to his Skipton relatives he was always Wilf.

Vic started his life in Skipton, south-west of Ballarat, as a farm boy, but he obviously had an academic streak – leading to scholarships and completion of his secondary education at Ballarat Grammar.

He started teaching at Ballarat Grammar as a student teacher in 1942. In 1945, he spent a year in the RAAF as a cypher, encrypting and decoding messages. He was naturally good at this job, with a methodical mind and persistent approach.

After 15 years of teaching at Caulfield Grammar, Vic came to Scotch College in 1964 and taught maths and Australian History. Vic had a fantastic rapport with boys. He had a knack of explaining things, and gained real pleasure from seeing boys learning. He had a strong philosophy of teaching boys to think, regardless of the subject matter. He was a mentor to many boys, before the word became fashionable.

‘Gurner’ (or dad, to me) taught me maths for two years. We were always on the same wavelength, so I learned well. I was very quiet, to avoid any trouble or embarrassment. One day he set the homework: questions 1 to 5 in the textbook. That night, questions 1 to 4 were a breeze, but question 5 seemed impossible. I turned to the teacher, as he sat at the kitchen table, for a hint, as I knew he would never give me the direct answer. Try as I might, the problem still eluded me. I turned to the teacher for another hint. At last, I solved it.

Next day, he casually asked the class who had solved problem number 5. One hand proudly shot into the air. Uproar! The class was not going to let the Nashes get away with this! As it happened, the headmaster, Mr Healey, was passing by and popped his head through the door to ask: ‘So they’ve caught you out, Mr Nash’. Dad replied: ‘No, Headmaster, I think they caught out my son’. The Head peered at Nash senior then at Nash junior, who had turned a deep shade of beetroot.

Vic’s influence extended much further than the classroom. He coached gym and football in his earlier years. His main passion was coaching rowing which he did at Ballarat Grammar, Caulfield Grammar and Scotch, where he coached the 2nd VIII from 1966 to 1976, followed by being master-in-charge of rowing from 1977 to 84. The success of the second crew in the 1974 Head of the River, under dad’s coaching, was certainly my greatest, and only, sporting triumph! He used to say: ‘Rowing is a great sport to coach – one has a captive audience!’

He made a major contribution to the Cadet Corps as the Adjutant for many years and was very involved with the Pipes and Drums, applying his organisational skills to ensure that cadet activities ran with military precision.

He was absolutely dedicated to teaching and school activities. The Nash family spent summer holidays at the Scotch at Cowes camp, where Vic was always at work in the background, ensuring that the camp ran smoothly. Vic was committed to school activities all year round. He helped to shape the transition of many adolescent boys into wonderful, responsible, thinking men.

Since retiring in 1985, Vic and Jean had enjoyed a relaxed life in Vermont South, and went on many caravanning holidays. He loved birds and knew the native birds very well, and took thousands of photos.

Vic was a patient, modest and dedicated person. He was a great teacher and a superb role model for teenage boys. He was self-reliant, stoic and quietly determined. He always lived life on his terms.

His most notable characteristic was being a very organised and methodical person. His main tool of administration for the cadets and organising rowing was his trusty manual typewriter, which he used until two years ago, when he started to conquer the challenges of word processing on the PC.

Vic leaves behind his wife, Jean, and children Judy, Sue, David (’74) and Robert (’81), as well as nine grandchildren.

His days will be no more. But through his idiosyncratic sign-off he would wish for all of us to enjoy life as he did: ‘Happy Days!’ GS