John Desmond Cole-Baker: Head of English Language Section 1961-1967

It is with sadness that we must inform you that our father passed away on Wednesday 27th October 2010 in New Zealand where our parents had lived since 1985. He was in his 91st year. He was cremated on Friday 29th October in a private ceremony, according to his wishes. For those of you who know us, my mother is in a rest home in New Zealand, close to where Rosemary is living.
We are sure that many of you remember that Desmond was involved in the early days of the International Baccalaureate and we hope that he will be remembered for his part in that initiative.
A photo of our parents taken on my father's 88th birthday in March 2008 is attached

Rosemary Anderson
John Cole-Baker

I remember your father well. He was always warm, friendly and very approachable.
Sincere condolences,

Anne (Winn) King LGB 62-73

I am sorry to hear of your loss. When my family arrived in Geneva in 1961, I was far from a star pupil and any school administrator would have been cautious about accepting me, but your father took a chance on me and I blossomed at Ecolint. In fact, the experience was a major turning point in my life. In my three years there, I met with your father several times and it was easy to see that he had my best interest in mind. And I certainly do remember his support of the IB, since I was proud to be involved in it as a student in its first year.
You have my sincere condolences and best wishes,

Tom Mueller 1961-1964

I remember him well, though I never had the pleasure of being in any of his classes. About 5 years ago I was attending an introduction seminar for the IB parents at my daughter's school here in Paris and the head of the School's IB program spoke at length and in the glowingest of terms about the contributions that Mr. Cole-Baker made to the founding of the IB. There is much to thank him for.

Stuart Ballin '67

I am very sorry to read that Desmond Cole Baker passed away. Although I was on the French side in the late 50s, I remember Mr. Cole Baker very well, and his very special role at the students kermesse every year. I can see from the picture that he had become very slim ! He was very special and, to my point of view, to really embodied the Ecolint spirit : openness, listening, joking, teaching with always the idea that each student is gifted for something; it is to the teacher to help him discover his gifts. I graduated in 1960 so I did not know the part he took, with Mr.Leach and Gérard Renaud at the creation of the IB.

Hélène Durand Ballivet

Very sorry to hear of your father Desmond's recent death as he was of course head of the English Language section at Ecolint for the entire period of my attendance. My deepest condolences to you and your family as especially your sister Rosemary, who was a classmate of mine.
And of course as you reminded us, your father contributed greatly to the success of the IB in its initial phases, along with the late Bob Leach, who was my GCE O level history teached for one year.
Thanks also for posting the photo.
best

Roger Murray LGB 61-67

I remember Mr. Cole-Baker very well. He was a part of my 1960s Grande Boissiere, together with Alexandre, and Messrs Quin, Garstang, Jennings, Shade, Anthony, Sharpe, Montgomery, Unitt, Roquette and Vyvyan, and Mmes Poirel and Briquet, and Mrs/Ms/Miss McIlwaine/Holden and Knight, and many others who know who they are -- together of course with some equally memorable names among the student body, to be found in the Echos of the time, but not repeated here in order to protect the guilty.
I am sorry he is gone. He presided over the ELP at LGB at a particularly difficult and contentious time, but his heart was very much in the right place, and things seem to have come out right.

Robin Dormer LGB 69

Very well put, with that list of familiar names. Mr. Cole Baker seemed the quintessential British gentleman, along with Mr. Quinn... Best to all.

Leslie Fernandez Van de Ven, lgb 1971

My heartfelt condolences to Mr Cole-Baker's Family. He was my Math teacher in 1953 or 54. His clear, methodical approach to teaching brought out the best in his students. I have only warm remembrances of Mr Cole-Baker that have stayed with me throughout my long life.

Art Retti (LGB 1951-1956)

May I add my sincere condolences to the Cole -Baker family. As an Internat student I remember him when I was there in the 52-53 time frame and the memories are rich and fond of his devotion to teaching and being such a friend to us all. My memories of Ecolint times even now are vivid and wonderful due to people like Mr Cole-Baker.

George Satterthwaite (LGB 52-53)

Very sad to learn that your father has passed away, although I had no direct dealings with him I always remember him as a kindly, approachable, understanding Head and for his support of the difficult beginnings of the IB.

David Beare 1962-65

I remember your father well, especially his kindness, his civility, and his delicate, yet direct, way of handling difficult issues. I especially recall an address he gave to our student body in 1965 or 1965 when some of the students had gotten involved in some "unfortunate" circumstance, as many of us tended to do at the age when we were all "invincible...your father used the famous quote "The darkest hour is just before dawn", which(although it was apparently an old Spanish proverb), until that moment had represented only a line from an old Shirelles song to me. It has stayed with me ever since your father's speech, as a source of comfort in times of need or deep sorrow, and I pray your father's own words can be of some solace to you and your family today at the time of his passing and in the days ahead.
My condolences and heartfelt good wishes to you, your sister, and your mother.
Take good care,

Molly Hirons Lewis, 1966

I am so sorry for your loss, your father had a tremendously positive impact on countless students. I had an O-Level Chemistry with him soon after he came to Ecolint (56? 57?), and he was a marvelous classroom teacher who could rivet your attention, explain complicated concepts in clear English, and grab the attention of his students. I remember, when attention strayed he might throw a piece of chalk across the room to grab the transgressor's eyes back to him; the gambit was invariably successful. He was the one faculty member willing to be the object of the "Throw a sloppy wet sponge at a professor" booth at a fund raising school fair -- I remember thinking what a good sport he was to do that because Ecolint faculty did not generally open themselves to public embarrassment. Of course it made us adore him.
He is well remembered, was much loved, and an excellent teacher. My best wishes to your family.

Karen Tobias Lee

I was touched by the reference to my father. I have been told by a number of the people who worked with him around the IB that he was the initiator. I graduated from Ecolint just before the first tests of the IB and I knew little about it. However, I found out later how much he had it in his heart – if he found that it was not being applied in the way he envisaged it, he felt it deeply. After Ecolint and the International Schools Association he returned to Northern Ireland, but that was a difficult time there and I suspect he could not take the bigotry etc at the time. I know he knew John Hume, who was one of the key politicians who tried to resolve the political situation in Northern Ireland. In the mid-seventies my father spent a couple of years running the British Council school in Addis Ababa, during the years Mengistu was the President. I was working in Sudan at the time and we visited Addis Ababa, but at that time it was not possible to travel in the country. We found out later that during WW2 he was in one of the first battalions into Addis to “liberate” it from the Italians. In his own way, my father contributed to international education and it is a pity this was not more widely recognised.

I always said that the best decision (for me) that my father made was to move to Geneva! I shall be in Geneva next week for the 100th Anniversary and hope to meet up with some of the followers of this newsletter.

Kind Regards

John Cole-Baker

Your father, accompanied by Bob Leach, interviewed both my husband and me for our jobs at Ecolint in 1961. It was the beginning of a new life, full of dizzying aspirations and perspectives - different from anything we had ever dreamed of. Your father initiated us into it. From that hour we never wanted any other school. Ecolint became ingrained in us.

Apart from being a very serious leader and human being, he was a very funny man. His style was to put people at their ease through his keen humour. We also knew your mother, a very kind and sympathetic friend. Desmond showed us lots of improbable things, such as how to carve a gigot in wedges, not slices, and his fantastic miniature railway, set out in his basement on a huge table. You could sense his child-like glee in whizzing it around complex circuits.

Michael and l had great respect and affection for this truly humane and larger-than-life person in our early years, as young teachers, at Ecolint. Michael became the history teacher that Desmond always wanted in his very special school. And many others were initiated by the same hand (many of them Irish, of course, but none with his inimitable touch)

Elizabeth Knight

Dear Elizabeth
Thank you for your response. Of course, I remember you and Michael and I know you were good friends with my parents. I have the history of Ecolint written by Michael in my library.
You raise the miniature railway. That was my father’s way of relaxing and getting away from the stresses of the day. I think I received my first railway when I was about 5, before we went to Geneva. That was probably the last I saw of it, as it became his “hobby”! It grew and was a fantastic layout developed over the years. He took it all to New Zealand and set it up there. He had a group of friends there who were into miniature railways and if I remember correctly Rosemary and I ensured his friends had a choice of his models after he died.
For me, with the responses I have had, next week will mean even more to me, as I will remember my father, as I do each time I visit the school, despite the changes which have happened over the years.
Kind Regards

John

I remember you and your Dad fondly. In fact, I remember one assembly in particular, in which your dad gave us encouraging words after a couple of students had broken some rules . It was the first time I ever heard the words, “The darkest hour is just before dawn “, and he went on to promise us that everything would be ok. He was a wonderful headmaster.

Wish I could attend the centennial. Have a great time!!

Molly ( Hirons) Lewis, class of ‘66

Also having been recruited by Desmond in 1963 to join this wonderful community I have cherished memories. However the one that lasts most in my memory is arriving at school each morning to find Desmond at the gate each morning welcoming everyone to the school day.

Brilliant

Phil Thomas

Desmond Cole Baker had a wonderful sense of humor. During my interview for a reaching position at Ecolint, which took pace in London, he explained that the school was dealing with a faculty housing problem and I would need to share an apartment with some other teachers. I explained that I had a my own furniture and did not wish to share. That ended my interview, and I didn’t get the job.

A few months later I received a large white envelope, and inside was a beautiful floor plan of the new Versoix apartments. My new address was written across one of the new buildings. Mary Winskill, 34, Chemin de Pont Ceard, Versoix ,Suisse 1290 I had a job at Ecolint in the fall of 1963.

Mary Roosevelt

Dear Mrs. Knight,
I was your and your husband's student in about 1980 and wanted to mention that I really loved your classes. I remember learning about the Cretans, your husband's "who, what, where, why, when, how," and much else. I was looking at my old exercise books over Easter and saw that I was very motivated by the homework that you assigned. I should have studied history at university, but I liked literature as well. However, I now work at the Department of History at the University of Salamanca.
Thank you for having been inspiring.
Best wishes,

Jacqueline (Jackie Adams at the time)

Dear Jackie,
Thank you for you lovely email. Everyone likes to be remembered. Sadly my beloved husband is no longer with us. I do not remember names these days and I am really afraid that I will no longer remember faces as we are all so changed with the years. I do hope you will be at the tea party on Saturday to be able to jog my memory with reminiscences of the classes. I read what students write on Facebook about their time in my class with great interest and affection..
Love,

Elizabeth