Br. Kyle was a short man. He was quite old, more than 60 I am sure when he was brought in at the helm of St. Vincent’s High and Technical School, Asansol. A shock of salt and pepper hair, squat, with broad shoulders and a quintessentially Irish face. We had heard stories that Br. Kyle had been a competition-level boxer in his youth. We never did doubt that, he certainly looked the part.
St. Vincent’s was tottering then, with the exit of Br. Emmanuel amidst rumours of various hues. St. Vincent’s was at low ebb. I was in first standard then.
Br. Kyle was a tough, somewhat cold man. Never one to speak a word more than necessary, a slight narrowing of the eye did for him what fulminations didn’t for others. His words of appreciation, just like his words of rebuke, were crisp and conveyed exactly what they were meant to, not a bit more, not a bit less.
St. Vincent’s didn’t need emotions. St. Vincent’s needed tough love. St. Vincent’s needed a father-figure who we, students and teachers alike, could look up to. St. Vincent’s needed strength to steer it, to stop it from veering off into irrelevance. And Br. Kyle was the man. Br. Kyle, in the truest sense of the term, was the reason St. Vincent’s means so much to us all. We believed in Br. Kyle. We believed, we still believe in St. Vincent’s.
He left the school at about the middle of our ninth standard. He left behind an institution which was a mirror of the man; strong, disciplined, somewhat rigid, somewhat austere, yet virtuous and principled.
I remember, in the last school assembly that he presided upon, his voice broke while saying goodbye to us. The rigid, quiet man did have emotions, we always suspected. On his last day in charge, he proved us right.
I wish I knew him better. I wish he stayed back a while longer, I wish I could interact with him, talk with him, learn from him when I was in tenth standard, when surprisingly and unexpectedly, the role of leading a quarter of the school fell unto me. I wish, selfishly, that he stayed back for a year more.
Br. Kyle taught us, by the sheer force of his personality, to be good, to be brave, to be strong, to be modest. Simple things, important things….
Br. Kyle was an idea we believed in.
Br. Kyle taught us to be men.
And then, this message on the St. Vincent’s community in orkut, from Anandaroop, a classmate.
Brother Kyle Passes away - May his soul RIP
I remember the day he came as a substitute teacher , The kind of respect he commanded over the students were unmatched by any Principal to my knowledge, though I must admit that I used to be terrified in his vicinity I must also confess that I had a place for this huge personality in my heart, May his soul RIP. Thanks to the students at St Mary’s for passing on the sad news...
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Br. W.E. Kyle - (R.I.P)
From: "martin fernandes"
Date: Sun, July 8, 2007 2:33 am
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Dear Sir,
I wish to inform you that Br. Kyle, who would have taught a number of SMO boys in the early 1980s passed away in Chandigarh last night (7th July).
Br Kyle was a wonderful teacher and a highly intellectual person. He could speak with authority on a great variety of subjects. Though he had a stern demeanour he was a wonderfully warm person who always had the interest of his pupils in mind. He was particularly well loved by the boarders and is often spoken about with great respect by any gathering of ex-pupils. Shy and reticent, his quiet sense of humour and sometimes unorthodox ways endeared him to all, staff and pupils alike. He will be missed by so many who had the privilege of coming into contact with him.
May his soul rest in peace.
With kind regards,
Br. Martin Fernandes
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Rest in peace, Sir. I wish I was able to put into words the grati…… But you would have understood, wouldn’t you?
Edit: An article on The Tribune,Chandigarh on Br. Kyle
Brother Kyle of St John’s dead
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 8
Brother William Eugene Kyle, the superior of brothers at St John’s, Sector 26, and the school’s revered manager, breathed his last at a hospital in Mohali last night, where he had been admitted 10 days ago. Already suffering from a damaged heart on account of myocardial infarction, Brother Kyle died of irregular beating of the heart, a condition called cardiac arrhythmia.
But he seemed quite alive this evening, as if enjoying the love of hundreds who had gathered in the auditorium of St John’s to pay their last respect to the man who made India his home in October 1949. He was the last of the brothers to have migrated from Northern Ireland to India. Most of the Irish brothers serving in India under the aegis of Christian Brothers Society are from the south of Ireland.
For Brother Kyle, however, India was a place of permanent belonging. Born on April 10, 1931, in England, he gave his life to the service of the Lord and entered the Christian Brothers Society in Ledsham, England, thus taking the vow of celibacy, poverty and service. His 62-year-long baptised life ended on a truly holy day, as pointed out by his close friends Brother Finn from New Delhi.
“Seven is a holy number. According to the Bible it is the number of completeness and boldness. It can’t be by chance alone that Kyle died in the 77th year of his life on the seventh day of the seventh month of 2007, and that we put his mortal remains to rest on the seventh day of week. His wanderings have finally come to an end. He rests in peace,” said Brother Finn, at the requiem mass held at St John’s.
There was indeed a holy design in Brother Kyle’s death, for he lived by the rules of Holiness all his life. After serving his society in different capacities as a missionary and teacher across India, he landed in Chandigarh 13 years ago. Here, he made St John’s his home - a place he nurtured with care, as was evident from the gathering of teachers and students at the mass. Leading them was principal Kavita Das, visibly shaken by the loss. “Brother was always concerned about the good of the school and the students. For us, this is a huge loss,” she said.
At school, Brother Kyle was devoted to both teaching and management. He was a master of mathematics, English and value education. “His vocabulary would put Winston Churchill to shame.” said Harold Carver, Brother Kyle’s old associate and friend. In him, the community today lost the cornerstone of the school of old values, a friend of one and all.
A few photos of Br. Kyle at the
St. Mary's, Dum Dum site.
