01-08-2025
Obituary: There and back again at OBHS
CLIVE RENNIE
Educator, sportsman
When Clive Rennie retired to Whanganui he did not have to pay the man who cut his lawn.
The two men had crossed paths before.
Mr Rennie was the deputy principal when the man attended high school as a boy.
Back then, the boy once brought a backpack full of fireworks to school and a classmate threw a match into the bag, setting them off in the classroom.
"He was sent to Clive to get caned," Mr Rennie's wife, Ann, recalled.
"But Clive just shut the door and laughed with him and said, 'Are you having a bad day, Sean?'
"That was their little joke — and Sean never charged us to cut our lawns."
Mr Rennie had an impact on students, because he always treated them fairly, Mrs Rennie said.
The long-serving rector of Otago Boys' High School died peacefully at home in Whanganui on May 17, aged 80.
Born in Dunedin on October 27, 1944, to parents Kathleen and John Rennie, Mr Rennie attended Mornington Primary School before going on to study at Otago Boys' High School.
He left school when he was 15 to work at Mitchell's International Tours — but he soon decided there was no future there for him, Mrs Rennie said.
Six months later he was back at school, at Kaikorai Valley High School where he re-sat his school certificate and was accredited university entrance.
He started studying accountancy at the University of Otago, but as a young man Mr Rennie dreamed of representing New Zealand as a football player.
He decided to pursue a physical education qualification so he could get fit and follow his sporting dream.
He achieved both — Mr Rennie earned a physical education qualification and, in 1967, a spot on New Zealand's national football team, now known as the All Whites.
He suited up against Scotland and the then reigning English League Champions Manchester United. The match against Manchester United was humbling.
"But they were his idols and he absolutely loved meeting all the guys," Mrs Rennie said.
Mr Rennie met his wife on a blind date as they attended a nursing graduation in Dunedin.
His future wife was not planning on going: she did not have a partner and she did not want one as she had travel plans.
Nevertheless, about three weeks after they met the couple were engaged to be married.
"He was very up front, no game playing, just very open and honest, and yes, he was a good person," Mrs Rennie said.
On May 4, 1968, at St Enoch's Union Church, in Alexandra, the couple were married.
Mr Rennie went on to graduate from Massey University in 1982 with a bachelor of education. He went on to be deputy principal at Whanganui High School from 1986 to 1991.
He served as principal at Rangitikei College in Marton from 1991 to 1997, at Mountainview High School in Timaru from 1997 to 2000 and then at Otago Boys' High School from 2000 to 2014.
He was the first old boy to hold the position.
Otago Boys' assistant principal Anne Gorman said Mr Rennie had a significant impact on the school.
He was a friend, an avid reader and "very good with people — very approachable".
"He was a leader in the sense that he brought people together," she said.
Mr Rennie served on the New Zealand Secondary Schools Sports Association Council for many years and was chairman from 2007 until retiring in 2014.
Council chief executive Garry Carnachan said Mr Rennie was a strong leader and a "really strong chairman".
He was "absolutely passionate about sport", and secondary school sport in particular, Mr Carnachan said.
"He just understood the difference it made in young people's lives and in their education — that it was a really good tool for engaging young people in their schools, for creating school culture and for developing character, that it made a massive difference to
young people's lives," he said.
Southern Football chief executive Dougal McGowan served as Mr Rennie's deputy rector at Otago Boys' for five years but counted him as a very close friend. Mr Rennie was wise, a great storyteller and a natural mentor, Mr McGowan said.
He was someone who did not suffer fools, but he was open to challenges and was willing " to give people an opportunity and a second chance".
"He was really keen for every young man to find his place in the world, whether it was in sport, whether it was in academics, whether it was in the arts," Mr McGowan said.
"He really wanted everybody to find that love or passion that would ignite that flame of learning and passion for life."
Mr Rennie was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2015 for his services to education and sport in 2015.
He came out of retirement to take on the role of rector at a primary school and a secondary school in Kaikoura, and then, Oamaru's Waitaki Boys' High School for one year, in 2016, after placing his name on the Ministry of Education's emergency principals list.
He was the beloved husband and best friend of his wife Ann, the loved brother of Glenys and the late Lyn.
He was the much-loved father and father-in-law of Kirsten and Rob, Nicky, Christopher and Tina and Matthew.
He was also the loved and adored Pop of Bella, Lula, Jula-May, Alfie, Maggie, Alexandra and Maximus. — Hamish MacLean
