A strong woman who stood out in a crowd
Late in life Helen Petchey received a phone call from a former student, a woman who had been born in Vietnam, came to New Zealand as a refugee and who began school whilst still suffering the effects of childhood trauma.
Now a young adult, the woman was reaching out to thank Helen, her primary school teacher, for all the help she and her family had received when she first arrived in the country. She also wanted to impart the news that she had been accepted into the Auckland School of Medicine and that it was Helen who had instilled in her a sense of self-belief and aspiration that had led directly to this outcome.
Helen was a kind, compassionate educator with a wide breadth of knowledge, as capable of instructing the nuances of classical music as she was in taking a first hand lead in physical education classes. Barbara Weir, a friend who taught with Helen at Richmond Park School in the 1980s says she was "an outstanding role model for her colleagues". Underpinning her practice was her ability and desire to establish warm relationships with students and their families, a trait that found profound expression in the early 1990s with the arrival of a large community of refugee children from Indo-china. Her empathetic approach transcended her duties as a teacher.
Known for her beaming smile, Helen was an innately positive person who tended toward seeing the good in people. She had faith in her students and commanded natural respect, encouraging confidence and forward thinking in others.
The positivity was hard won. Helen's early years in the Pacific Islands resulted in sensitivity to cultures other than her own and a grounding in morality and spirituality but also, through personal and historical circumstance, great loneliness and a sense of isolation and occasional self doubt. It spoke volumes about her character that she was able to harness such emotions for the greater good of her family and those for whom she impacted professionally.
Helen Marjorie Challis was born August 9, 1936 in Rarotonga, the daughter of the Reverend Robert Lye (Bob) Challis and Mona Challis (nee Chesterson). Bob and Mona were missionaries who had arrived in the Cook Islands three years earlier from their native England.
In 1939 Mona died in childbirth, at the age of just 31. Three-year-old Helen processed the tragedy in terms of the faith she had been raised in, later writing that "my imagination conjured up a vision of her [Mona] climbing a 'Jacob's ladder'".
Rose, Helen's new stepmother, took on the responsibility of home schooling her, giving her a love of music and singing that was to inform the rest of her life. A nursery rhyme repertoire soon expanded into the classical. Helen remembered singing Schubert's Once a Rose a Boy Espied to guests. In 1943, in the middle of World War II, Helen was enrolled in Queen Margaret's College in Wellington. The journey to New Zealand proved eventful. The ship's cargo of dried coconut caught fire at one point, necessitating that passengers take refuge, ironically, in the upper deck "smoking room". However supportive Rose's capital city relatives might have been, entertaining Helen on weekends and during holiday periods, life at boarding school for a 7-yearold was desperately lonely.
In 1945, Helen's half-sister Christine was born. Two years later, with Helen having completed her time at Queen Margaret's, the now family of four set sail for England, where they lived until 1949. Helen had the opportunity to forge relationships with her parents' wider family, ones that were to be sustained. Returning to New Zealand, where Bob took up a position as the minister of the Pacific Islanders' Congregational Church, Helen attended Auckland Girls' Grammar School.
Here her talent for singing and performing was drawn out by a skilled and inspirational drama teacher. Attending church services and Sunday School afforded still more performance opportunities and it became the family practice to conduct long-into-the-night singing sessions on Saturday evenings, where Helen further developed her voice.
After school, Helen worked for a year as an office assistant at the motor firm Seabrooks. She enrolled at the University of Auckland and later studied at Auckland Teachers' Training College. Her significant college memories again centred on music, with a social life in which dancing was to the fore and involvement in theatrical shows.
Helen's first teaching appointment was at Waiuku Primary School. Returning to Auckland to complete more tertiary papers, she met Jack Hamilton Oliver, whom she married in 1958. Before the arrival of first child Katrina she taught at Kowhai Intermediate School.
With Jack's acceptance into Knox Theological College the Olivers shifted to Dunedin. A further relocation saw second child Peter born in Morningside. At this time Helen began visiting women in prison, offering support.
When Jack secured a job as a minister in Raglan the family shifted once more. Helen and Jack's third child, John-paul, was born. Accepting a relief teaching position at Raglan School and maintaining a household of five in an era of gendered domestic responsibilities was to take a toll on Helen's health. At one point not being able to get out of bed, she was diagnosed with exhaustion.
After another shift back to Auckland there was one final addition to the Oliver brood: daughter Sarah. Helen did further study, completing a qualification in Playcentre supervision. When Sarah was five, Helen resumed her teaching career at May Road School, enjoying the experience of teaching her own daughter in a new entrants' class.
The Olivers subsequently found themselves in Tauranga, where Helen taught at Pillans Point School. Thereafter in Paeroa, Helen taught a combined class of new entrants to Year Three at Karangahake Primary and later wrote of how she "took great delight in watching children arrive at school and move up three years later with literacy and numeracy skills they had learnt in my classroom". She took particular pleasure in pottery instruction and the building of a kiln in the playground.
Helen and Jack's marriage came to an end. Helen lived for another year in Paeroa before a shift to Ngāruawāhia, where she taught at Waipā Primary School.
Another phase of Helen's life began in the mid-1980s with a relocation to Hamilton and a job at Richmond Park School. Colleague Barbara Weir remembers Helen's proactivity when it came to ensuring students utilised the local Glenview Library, resisting scepticism from any fellow teachers who suggested the children could not be trusted with books. For Weir, the story was emblematic of Helen's determination not only to teach literacy skills but to ensure her charges had faith in themselves and a sense of possibility.
With her own children now grown, Helen had more time to indulge her cultural and artistic enthusiasm. Pursuing an interest in feminism and spirituality, she became a member of The Women's Spirituality Group.
Joining the then Hamilton Musikmakers - today's Hamilton Musical Theatre (HMT) - centred around the Riverlea Theatre, Helen was cast in a variety of roles throughout the second half of 1980s and early 1990s. Elected to the organisation's committee, she served as its secretary for a term as well as functioning as production assistant and production manager for many shows.
Aside from well developed musical and performance skills Helen brought her positivity, intelligence and strong work ethic to Musikmakers.
Helen's last teaching job was at Te Uku School in Raglan. Shifting to the coast again, she married a second time but the union was short lived. For a period she continued to perform in or give support to Riverlea shows, despite the driving distance involved. In retirement Helen busied herself with her grandparenting responsibilities, proving very supportive of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, especially those who showed any interest in the performing arts.
A relocation to Hamilton brought further involvement with Musikmakers and a new relationship. Helen married fellow theatrical David Petchey in 2006 and the pair spent many happy years together. Helen also greatly enjoyed singing in the Cantando Choir. The time following David's death in 2015 was difficult but Helen continued to cultivate a wide group of friends.
Helen's last years were spent in the Awatere Retirement Village, where she covered her room's walls proudly with photographs of her many descendants. Sustaining her lifelong love of classical music, she revelled in tales of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Helen was a strong woman who stood out in a crowd not merely for her colourful sartorial choices but the confidence of her demeanour.
Helen Marjorie Petchey died April 10, 2024. She is survived by her children Katrina, Peter, John-paul and Sarah, their respective partners, ten grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.