Ken Marden - Patron, Honorary Archivist

KEN MARDON

At the opening of the school in January 1926, being number three on the school roll, he was one of the boys who helped raise the school flag on the first day. He was present at the last speech night of Slade School in December 1997, when the school was officially closed. A couple of years later, he was then given the honour to raise the Churchie flag with a boy from Churchie at the re-opening in 1999 when it commenced as the Slade Campus of the Anglican Church Grammar School.

And he was able to make his final roll call at the 75^th anniversary reunion of Slade during reunion 2001. It was here that again Ken, and the youngest past student that we have, both raised the same flag as he had done some seventy five years earlier. It is then very fitting to recognise that the flag which flew on the first day in the history of the school should also now drape his casket today.

As well, this man, whom we honour today was the only person to have known and met every founder of the school, every Headmaster, every master and every member of the staff — as well as knowing personally or being recognized by every boy and girl who ever attended Slade.

In what was the Old Boys Association, and then the Past Students Association, he served as committee member, secretary, Warwick district chairman, became President of the association, and for the last several years has been our honoured Patron. The only others to have been patron of this association were the founders — William Ball Slade, J H S Barnes, and the Hon. C E Barnes

Ken has been the best recruiting officer the Association has ever had. — and we have regularly received letters and phone calls letting us know of previous past students he has come across. And so, you see, in our eyes, he has been a very special person. He was the last of the first—and a light has gone out on the top of the hill

But what of Kennie, the man. When ever there was a job to be done, without doubt, the little fella was the man to be there — for example, there are many of us who will recall a little red truck that carried loads of soil to cover the oval, and fix the pitch. The tennis courts were built on deco also carried on this same red truck driven by the same Ken Mardon. He had a nature and a smile that gained him the respect and love of thousands of past students, not only from Slade, but also from St Catharine’s, and now from Churchie

His belief in himself was mixed with a deep love of his family, particularly for Mabel, his partner in life for 25 years. We know of his love for the school, and all that its tradition and history became. — yet above all, there has been his love for his church and his god.

See also the Ken Marden Walk