Michael J. Heale (G 62-68).

Dave Heale, Dimitri Sklavounos and Charlie Lambert have submitted the following:

“It is with deep sadness that we inform you of the death of Michael J. Heale, known as ‘Mike’ by his brother and friends.
Mike was a very intelligent man who was interested in everything scholastic and philosophical and aspired to understand what was important in life. Unfortunately, he also inherited a body that was poorly coordinated, and therefore unathletic, which combined with his gentle and sensitive nature made him a perfect target for many a bully or unhappy person at school. Tragically for him, this had a profound impact which affected him later on in life. He was a deeply thoughtful, kind, and considerate man with strong principles throughout his life.

At St Bees, Mike developed a disinterest for sports and a dislike for the many old-fashioned ways of the school, and especially the ‘privilege’ system. He consistently spoke with those who would listen about the archaic and barbaric system and encouraged everyone not to join that cycle of becoming the ‘abuser’ when in a position of power. He expected people to treat each other with respect, irrespective of age, role or status, and used his authority wisely as a House prefect to promote this. He was the first House prefect to reject the idea of having a ‘personal fag’. Despite his gentle nature, he was not averse to verbally admonishing any fellow student who demonstrated an abuse of power at the expense of someone beneath them in age or status.

After leaving St Bees, unsurprisingly Mike went to study Law at Dundee University. He enjoyed his time there and left with a good degree. His strong beliefs were demonstrated there also when he was arrested and cautioned for posting Marxist literature on lamp-posts. Mike was not a radical though, he just wanted a fairer society for all.

After leaving university, he began to work towards becoming a solicitor, and then decided he would prefer to work abroad to understand what life was like in a developing country. He applied to VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) and was allocated a teaching job in an agricultural college in Zambia. He spent two happy years there, and developed an enjoyment of teaching and valued many aspects of the culture. He also appreciated being in a country that was striving to establish its own identity after years of colonial rule, and enjoyed contributing to that. He also valued the fact that it echoed, albeit to a far lesser degree, the experiences of his uncle who had been working in Kenya prior to and during the Mau-Mau uprising, and who was one of the very few British people invited to stay on afterwards and serve in a prominent role in the first Kenyatta Government.

Once again, in his time in Zambia we could see manifested Mike’s strong belief in the development of self-respect, self-identity, mutual respect and also dislike of empire (of any kind).

After his two years there, Mike returned to England and decided to combine his interests by joining a college in Southall, a multi-cultural community, and continue teaching in many aspects of law, as well as other subjects. Unfortunately for him, the transition back to England was marred after a year or two by the development of mental health issues, which many ascribed to his difficult times at St Bees.

Mike decided to leave London after several years and move to a quieter part of the country in the hope that this would enable him to manage better. Sadly, that was not to be, and after a few more years of determined working he reluctantly decided to accept retirement on medical grounds.

However, if this seemed to many like the end of a meaningful and productive life, Mike was to prove everyone wrong. His principles and intelligence still burned strongly, and slowly but surely motivated him once more into a life of service in a different form.

Mike became increasingly involved in voicing his thoughts on the development of, and concerns about, services as part of the ‘Service User’ movement in the Cheshire area. He eventually became the lead spokesman for the mental health service users in his area. His thoughtful and respectful approach, combined with his ability to listen to everyone’s point of view, whether service user or service official, led to him being asked to sit on the Board of the Mental Health Trust, which provided services for people in Cheshire, which he did for many years. During his time in this role, Mike oversaw many developments, and sat on many interview panels for all posts from nurses in specialist services to the Chief Executive Officer. He also supported other users to take on these tasks.

Probably one of the most important contributions that Mike made was when the Mental Health Trust decided to close down the local acute admissions unit, owing to its poor state of repair and significant cuts in the budget. Mike felt it was incredibly important for people going through a mental health crisis to remain close to their families and communities, and that two and a half hours travel by public transport to a proposed unit was unacceptable.

Initially, he became the recipient of service users’ expressions of upset and concerns. As he continued to express his opposition to the Mental Health Trust, he began to draw people and an ever widening circle of support to him, including a local newspaper and the local MP.

Mike thankfully was alive long enough to see the results of all his efforts over many years in the development of two new local units, one for acute mental health admissions, and another for people with dementia, as well as the establishment of two ‘Crisis Cafes’ in two under-resourced areas. Many people will benefit from these developments, even if they do not know to whom they should be thankful.

He confronted other significant challenges, especially when his partner of many years, Marian, developed cancer, and he cared for her attentively at home until she died some fifteen years ago.

Mike retained a life-long love of art and history, and especially when manifested in the form of stamps. At St Bees he established the Philatelic Society. In later life he revelled in collecting beautiful stamps, especially covering the period towards the end of British Colonial power, and the establishment of each country’s independence. He had prepared a talk on Zambia for the local Philatelic Society, but sadly died a day or so before he was due to deliver it.

Mike’s interest in philosophy and life led him to study and become extremely knowledgeable about many religions. He considered Buddhism, Quakerism and Unitarianism amongst the most benign, and opted for attending a Unitarian chapel, partly because of his respect for the minister at the time. Being the grandson of a Unitarian minister probably helped also. He became increasingly supportive of his local Unitarian chapel, and was appointed a Trustee and sat on its Committee for many years, supporting many social and wide-ranging fund-raising activities. He also steadfastly maintained the simple yet meaningful task of ringing the bell to welcome people every Sunday.

Not every brother becomes a friend. Not every friend becomes a brother. Mike achieved both, just by being himself.
Rest in peace brother, friend, exceptional human being.”

Dave Heale (G 64-69), Dimitri (aka Jim) Sklavounos (G 63-67), Charlie Lambert (G 64-68).

 

Home

The St Beghian Society    
St Bees School,    St Bees,    Cumbria,    CA27 0DS.

         Tel: (01946) 828093      Email: osb@stbeesschool.co.uk      Web: www.st-beghian-society.co.uk