Westdale Secondary School - Le Raconteur Yearbook (Hamilton, Ontario Canada)

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Portrait painted by Gerald W. Munt and pre- sented in the memory of Sir Winston Churchill by the students of Westdale Secondary School.

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Principal ' s Message I have been asked to write this message at a time ivhen we have just gone through a period of mourning for one who has been called the greatest leader of our time, Sir Winston Churchill. Although tve mourn his loss, there is a certain consolation in the fact that he lived so long and so successfully and that he has left us so much by ivay of his own example. He leaves a monument in the form of inspiration and encourage- ment for future generations. During the war, by his ability to unite people and make them live above themselves and by his personal cour- age in others he lifted his people from despair to determination and inspired them to set their sights on nothing short of victory. Follow- ing the war his humanitarian efforts in the pursuit of peace have done much toivards world effort dedicated to the purpose of avoiding war and suffering. His great example in all these fields of endeavour remind us of the following ivords by Henry Wadsivorth Longfellow. Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time. I ivould commend the president and members of the Triune Stu- dent Council for their efficient management of student activities and I congratulate all teachers and students who co-operated in the pro- duction of Le Raconteur for 1965.

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Winston Churchill was both a great man and a man of genius. These are by no means the same thing. Many men of genius have not ach- ieved greatness; and there have been many great men who were without that magic touch, that gift of originality putting the stamp of their personality on everything, that intensity and energy of mind which are what I mean by genius. In our century there have been few men of this calibre. His courage of character; not only physical but moral courage — is a rare quality not found in many men of the past hundred years. No great statesman ever had a saner or sounder or more hopeful outlook for suffering humanity. The death of Churchill is, therefore, signifi- cant to all the world, but especially significant to you and me. All his life he was a dauntless believer that every man should be able to call his soul his own. He fought for his principle without flinching. Being in a seat of learning; we, perhaps can see the pure simple goodness of this man ' s idea more readily than the common layman. We can also, see a much rarer, more elusive thing, de- fying analysis. That small something in a man which is of much value. To say, it ' s sad, its too bad, is less than you could do! We are more capable than a beck of the hand, or a shrug of the shoulder as a tribute to him. A proper and fitting tribute is not an easy thing to attain. In my own way, I tried to make a small tri- bute; a humble effort to capture his kind sin- cerity and bull-dog tenacity in a portrait. With humility, I have offered this same portrait to you, the students of Westdale Sec- ondary School, to accept as our tribute to Sir Winston Churchill. by Gerald W. Munt 13.5.2.