Former headteacher dies
EDWARD 'Ted' Gooch, head teacher at Uckfield's Holy Cross CE Primary School for 23 years has died, aged 85.
Ted was born in Crowborough, educated in Lindfield and won a scholarship to Brighton Grammar School.
He joined the Royal Sussex Regiment in 1941, trained as an officer and sent to East Africa with 20 colleagues.
He learned Swahili so he could train native East African troops to handle guns, took his troops across the Indian Ocean to Ceylon and spent ten days travelling by train to the Burma border.
He won the Burma Star after crossing the Brahmaputra River just before bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki signalled the end of the Far Eastern war.
After two more service years training Dutch troops to fight in the East Indies he was demobbed and took a two year teacher training course in Chelsea, London.
His first post was teaching in a primary school in Cuckfield, West Sussex, followed by headships in several East Sussex schools including Burwash.
He was appointed head at Holy Cross in 1962 and retired in 1985 during which time the school was rebuilt and included a Gooch wing.
Holy Cross Primary School was a centre for music with smaller schools visiting for music festivals once a year.
As head Ted was on the Parochial Church Council and also served as a sidesman in Holy Cross Church.
After retirement he continued to work with schools as the Bishop's visitor, representing the diocese in the Church of England Schools in
East Sussex.
He was an active Rotary Club and Probus Club member.
He was married to Diana for 64 years, had three children and six grandchildren. He died on December 14.
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Weather for Lewes
Tuesday 07 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -5 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North east
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