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Mr. Howard J. Sammy (1940-2010) ~ in 2001. Howard graduated from Naps in 1960. The eldest of James and Marion Sammy's eight sons, Howard grew up as a constant big brother, a leader and a natural mentor to others. His school career enhanced his pioneering spirit. He played notable roles in literary and extra-curricular activities. Notably, along with Brinsley Samaroo and Trevor MacDonald he helped pioneer Mr. Lee Wah's "Blue Circle Network", the weekly public address school program in the late '50's. As a university student in Montreal, he often served as an informal helper and scout leader to a generation of San Fernando students in the area, a role that prefigured one of his most lasting contributions: that of the Naparima Alumni Association of Canada. Here he rose to the fore as founder and framer of an institution that was to flourish and become an institution on its own; one to which he continued for decades to contribute guidance, energy and vigour. His vocation, not surprisingly, was teaching. He eventually retired as vice-principal after a career in the Toronto area, his true niche being the support and concern for individual students that were a natural consequence of his early years at home and at Naparima. At an early point in his teaching career, Howard met Kathy, a fellow-teacher. Their marriage, with their two children Joy and Julian, became an inseparable image to all who know them in Canada and Trinidad. Howard was a man of projects. Apart from the energy he devoted to his family, career and social commitments, his personal passion acquired from Ms. Matadeen (nee Meghu) at NC, was geography. He and Kathy embarked on many safaris, to India, Africa, and beyond, including one world tour. Howard would be fully abreast of the physical and human geography of each location long before his arrival there, in many instances from as far back as his own school days. In recent years, they both became regular visitors to Iere. As a formative and enduring figure on our social scene, Howard leaves a huge gap in terms of his personal humourous, sometimes trenchant, commentary. He was stamped "Naparima". He embodied the values of his school and the character of his teachers: a spirit that will endure in the Naparima Alumni Association, and amongst his many friends and close family. Howard passed away at his Ontario home on November 27, 2010.
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