THE Nannup community is reeling after the MH17 plane disaster claimed the life of former Nannup District High School principal Nick Norris and his three grandchildren.
Passenger Nick Norris made a lasting impact in Nannup when he was principal at the school in the late 1980’s.
Mr Norris was on the Malaysian Airlines flight with his three grandchildren Mo, Evie and Otis Maslin which crashed in the Ukraine on Thursday, killing everyone on board.
Former Nannup District High School gardener Tom Longbottom said he was grieving a friend and a fishing buddy. He had learned of Mr Norris’ death on his own 90th birthday.
“I’d just had my 90th birthday party in the town and no one wanted to tell me,” Mr Longbottom told the Mail yesterday.
“When I got home my daughter said ‘come on Dad sit down, I’ve got some news for you.’ I felt like crying.”
Mr Longbottom said Mr Norris was “a decent bloke” who had been popular with school staff in the three years he had been principal.
“He was a quiet sort of a snoozer… we used to go fishing together up at Cosy Corner,” Mr Longbottom recalled.
“I was at the school 35 years and I saw a lot of principals come and go – he was up there with the best.”
The school’s current principal Felicity Dear told the Mail that staff, local community members and former students were saddened to hear of his passing and remembered him fondly.
“The thoughts of the Nannup community are with his family, friends and colleagues at this sad time,” she said.
Former Nannup District High School student Andrea Johnstone said she remembered Mr Norris as a great principal and very intelligent man.
She said he also taught French and was always very involved in the school.
“I was fortunate enough to see Mr Norris in a brief encounter at a conference in late 2011, which I will always remember,” she said.
Nannup supermarket worker Tracey King, whose children were students when Mr Norris was principal, said the small town was reeling from this latest news after a series of recent local tragedies.
Earlier this month a Nannup man had died in a house fire, and just this week Mrs King had lost a co-worker to cancer.
“It’s been a real dismal pall over the town,” Mrs King said.
“Everyone remembers him, it’s been on everyone’s lips. We are all just shattered for them.”
Margaret River Primary School principal Sinan Kerimofski said several of his staff members had worked with Mr Norris and had links to the Maslin family.
“As a school we have sent an email of condolence to the Deanmore Primary School (where the Maslin children had attended),” Mr Kerimofski said.
St Thomas More Catholic Primary School, Margaret River, principal Martin Major said the Catholic Education WA was also grieving the loss of a staff member, and would hold a mass in her honour.
School bursar Edel Mahady worked in administration at the Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School, Kelmscott.
Principals at schools throughout the Augusta Margaret River region said the were prepared to offer counselling to any students who might be affected by news of the disaster, but had no specific plans to raise the subject in a formal way.
The MH17 tragedy has taken a heavy toll on West Australians, with memorials and tributes for the eight WA victims continuing to flow.
The plane was carrying 298 passengers, 37 of which were Australian citizens.
The Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak has now reached an agreement with the Russian separatist forces to transfer the victims’ bodies, and the black box flight recorder, to the Netherlands for identification.
