June 11, 1937 - March 21, 2019

Cino Pires, former school teacher, born in Batim, Goa, passed away peacefully on March 21, 2019 in Hamilton, New Zealand, surrounded by his family. Son of the late Lourenco Cristovao Pires and the late Maria Anunciacao Guadulpe Pires, brother of Leao, Tigrinho (deceased), Gilu, Vitoria, Garcinha (deceased), brother in law of Theresa, Lena, Diana. Cino is survived by his wife Lynette, his sons Anton and Andre and their families.

Condolences to: a_m_p@hotmail.com

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Waikato Times (NZ): Teacher Mourned Around The World

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My dad, Curcino

By Andre Pires

Good afternoon everyone, and welcome to this Requiem Mass for Cino Pires. For those who I have not met yet, my name is Andre Pires, and I am the youngest son of Cino and Lynette. On behalf of the family I would like to thank you all for attending to show your love for Dad. We are genuinely touched that so many have come here today. Thank you.

My Dad was born 81 years ago in a village called Batim in the state of Goa in India. He was the youngest of 6 siblings and, as such, his childhood nickname was “Pocrush”, which in Konkani means “little” and, to this day, he is still referred to this way by his brothers and their families. At a very young age Dad contracted Polio, and the effects of this disease were with him for his entire life. But he didn’t let being the youngest, smallest or even polio get in the way of leading an amazing, successful and very full life.

Dad grew up in Goa, a place which never left his heart, and when he was just 17 he moved to Bombay (as it was called then) to study for his Bachelor of Science degree. When complete, he departed India for Africa, where he taught science in Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia, in the beginning to students just a few years younger than him. Unbelievably, up to his death, Dad was still in contact with many of his students from this period nearly 60 years ago. Many have been in contact over the last few days to offer condolences and express their love and affection for him. This is a reoccurring theme in his life story - of very close friendships that extend back for decades, with people in all corners of the world, which he actively nurtured with regular letters written over the years.

From Kenya Dad traveled to the UK where he attended the University of Leicester and gained a post grad certificate in Education, before returning back to teach in Africa, first in Nairobi, then in Lusaka Zambia.

While teaching in Lusaka, Dad met our mother who was part of the local Goan Society there. From what I have been told she was immediately attracted to him as he was the only guy in their group with a car. They fell in love, were married, and had my brother Anton and I in Zambia. My memories of that time in Zambia are of many parties and celebrations. And there have been so many stories told to me, most of which I can’t repeat here today, about Dad’s antics as the life and soul of these parties. Again, Dad stayed in touch with many friends from that period, some of whom are here with us today.

In 1978, Mum and Dad made a decision that would forever change the trajectory of their story. They packed up their family and moved to the other side of the world, to a country they had never been to before, New Zealand, where they built their lives from that point onward. We first settled in Huntly, where Dad taught Science at Huntly College for 10 years, going on to be the head of the Science department.

The Huntly college community was so welcoming of our immigrant family, and Dad remained very close friends to many of those teachers to this day. Being a town with just one high school, means that there is a whole generation of Huntly that were taught by Dad. By all accounts he was a good teacher, because for our entire time since then Dad has had been bumping into ex-students wherever we went, who would tell us how much they enjoyed his classes. This continued long after he had left Huntly nearly 20 years ago, right up to 2 weeks ago, when Dad was being brought to hospital in an ambulance, and both the ambulance staff were his ex-students.

After Huntly College Dad did a move very close to here to teach at Sacred Heart Girls College in Hamilton East, followed by retirement 16 years ago, at which time he focused on this other loves – cooking, gardening, and his grandchildren.

My Dad was very social and loved to invite people over and cook Indian food for them. I think most people here must have experienced this first hand, and in the early days of us being in New Zealand, it may have been the first time many Kiwis fell in love with real Indian food and Goan curries. He kept this up until late in life when he couldn’t stand at the kitchen counter, and even then he would sit on his lazy-boy and shout instructions to Mum in the kitchen.

Another thing our Dad loved were his grandchildren. After many years of waiting and nagging, my brother and I have finally given our parents two grandchildren to dote over. Being a grandfather has so clearly been a huge pleasure for Dad. His relationship with Xavier, who shares Dad’s name as his middle name, has been beautiful to watch, and I really believe it was Dad’s dedication to this role that gave him the motivation to keep going through his later years.

Dad was never a complainer. It would have been easy for him to do, especially in the last few years of his life with the struggles that he had. He kept a positive attitude, and right to the end he never moaned about what he was going through or had to endure. He would just shake his head and say “Never Mind”.

Dad has always been a very proud Goan. Although he left Goa over 60 years ago, he never lost his love for his home. We used to holiday there as children, and he always would say that he would retire and move back there one day. Of course he was too settled here in New Zealand for this to happen, but as part of his final wishes, he has requested that his body be cremated, and for his ashes to be returned back to where it all started, to Batim in Goa.

Over the last few days I’ve talked to so many friends of Dad from all over the world, and a couple of things I heard summed him up very well. One person said “He always had a twinkle in his eye, and a story to tell”. The other comment came from Father Eustace who was the priest who married Mum and Dad 49 years ago in Zambia. I think he captured it perfectly when he said that “Dad would be laughing all the way up to heaven..”

May God bless you Dad, and may you rest in eternal peace.

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A Tribute to Cino Pires

By Joan Do Rosario

It is with much sadness that we bid farewell to yet another member of the faculty of our beloved DRGS, the much loved and well remembered Master Pires, as he was respectfully addressed by all his students.

Curtino (Cino) Pires was the fifth child in a family of 6. He was born in Batim, Goa, where he lived with his siblings and parents until he left for Mumbai to complete further studies which included his teachers’ training. To further his training Cino traveled to the UK for additional courses. Cino led life to the fullest, exploring the world, teaching in Ethiopia, Nairobi, Zambia and then New Zealand where he finally settled with his wife Lynette and sons, Anton and Andre.

For myself, and I daresay for many other students, we mostly could only claim a faint and flitting interest in science, until that day in 1962 when the youthful and dapper Master Pires blew into our hallowed halls of learning, bringing with him the winds of change. He was fun-loving and his charismatic disposition imbued in many of us the thirst for knowledge that we had hitherto not really experienced. Science period suddenly became the much looked forward to hour. Even those of us who had no real aptitude or interest in the subject were motivated to not miss a single one of Cino’s classes. Cino was an inspiration to many, a kind and guiding teacher, patient and nurturing to those who didn’t comprehend, and encouraging and exhilarated by those who excelled. But, his talent didn’t only end with the teaching of science. He was instrumental in sharing his passions and interests in his various hobbies with his students and thus molding many into different fields of learning.

Messages of regret at Cino’s passing from the alumni of the iconic Dr. Ribeiro’s Goan School, Nairobi, are still pouring in, many of them referring to his influence on their lives. One such message reads, “Although not unexpected, Cino’s passing has saddened me because he awakened a sense of inquiry within me, which has grown with the passage of time…a thirst for knowledge that will continue for the rest of my life!” Another student claimed, “He was one of my favorite teachers, certainly instrumental in fostering my interest in photography, film/video.” Yet another message reads, “Mr Pires was a great motivator and most students looked forward to attending his classes. He took his condition in stride, wittily exhorting us to try and avoid getting old!” Then we have a memory shared with us by Gilu, Cino’s brother. He remembers a time in Goa when a young man was tearfully conversing with Cino, and when asked what was going on, Cino replied that it was one of his ex-students thanking him for the encouragement, guidance and inspiration that he gave to him and so many students, molding them into the successful adults they had become.

I was fortunate to have met Cino and Lynette a few years ago when they had come down to Goa for their son’s wedding. He looked as fit and dapper as we always remembered him, and as always, his most charming and engaging self. After several reminders of my schooling delinquencies which I was surprised that he remembered, Cino went on to regale us with humorous anecdotes of his migration to New Zealand and subsequent life in his new environment.

I will take this opportunity now to quote from an excerpt received from Antonio Monteiro, a very close friend of Cino’s :

“I first met Curcino Pires at St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai 1958. He was doing a degree in Chemistry while I was doing my degree in Mathematics. We reconnected in Nairobi in 1963 at a teachers’ conference and after that we would meet regularly every Saturday at Brunners Hotel where teachers would meet for a drink and to exchange “habari”. Curcino would be a regular there, always joking and full of life.

A group of teachers from Dr. Ribeiro’s Goan School, namely Roldao Menezes, Fr. Antonio Luis, Dominic Carvalho, Curcino and myself would go on regular trips to Silver Sands in Malindi and pitch our tiny tents and have a lot of fun. Away from our students, we could let our hair down and so we even went to the extent of dressing like the locals, in traditional lungis! Fr. Luis would be the chief cook and Curcino assumed the role of “Director”. Curcino loved to share jokes and stories. He kept us all entertained. I recall an occasion when we were sleeping at night and suddenly there was a heavy downpour and because we had tiny tents, our feet were out of the tent and we had our feet all wet, and eventually the tents blew off as well, leaving us fully drenched.

We continued to keep in touch after he went to New Zealand and I came to Canada. In our phone calls we exchanged news about fellow teachers, as well as taking trips down memory lane. We met Curcino and Lynette when they visited Toronto some years back and we were happy to get to know Lynette. Curcino taught my wife, Violet, and we were all happy to meet personally after so many years.

Curcino, my friend, you will be missed. May you rest in peace.”

It goes without saying that we were all saddened to hear of Cino’s declining health in recent years and we now mourn his passing. Cino will always be fondly remembered by the alumni body of the DRGS. His memory is, without any doubt, indelibly etched in our hearts. We were blessed to have had him in our lives, tutoring and shaping our young minds, and by his dedication and enthusiasm for teaching instilling in us an intrinsic hunger for learning.

Dear Master Pires, all you have left us with now are the memories…the very heartwarming and precious memories of a beloved teacher and a kindhearted, humble and fun loving human being. Go in peace and may you find eternal rest in the arms of Our Divine Lord.

The Alumni Body of the DRGS expresses their most sincere condolences to Lynette, Anton, Andre and their families.

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Fond Memories of the Times we Spent Together in Zambia

By Stanley DeSouza

When we arrived in Lusaka, Zambia, from the UK in 1975 there were very few Goans there, mainly from other East African countries who used it as a staging post for more permanent pastures anew.

Merwin, my brother, told me that one of his inspirational teachers by the name of Cino Pires with his family also lived there and I should make contact with him. But they had gone to Goa on home leave when we arrived. On his return, he made contact with us and invited us to dinner. When we arrived at his residence the dinner table was loaded with Goan delicacies which they had brought back from Goa. In order to welcome us in true Goan style, he filled four whisky size glasses with Feni and handed one to each of us. But my wife Maria had never tried Feni before so Cino showed her how Goan's drink it by downing it down with one gulp just as he had done. Maria followed his example and I heard a frantic scream as the Feni burned her gut. Needless to say she has never drank Feni again!

On another occasion, some of our friends were invited to Sunday lunch. After a few Castle beers, Cino was having a heated discussion with another of our guests. When our guests had left, my son Jeffrey who was about six years old came up to me and asked 'Daddy why did Uncle Cino want to sit on Uncle Maurice's (Remedios) head?' I had to explain that that was a typical Goan expression and Uncle Cino had no intention of actually sitting on Uncle Maurice's head!

One Saturday, I had just returned home from a grueling game of Squash when Cino turned up and said to Maria that he was taking me to the Flying Club to have his application forms signed and would bring me back soon. After a couple of beers we got involved in a heated discussion with a group of Zambians as to what should be done to kick Ian Smith out of Rhodesia. Cino's views as usual were very radical. The discussion came to no conclusion so we left. Cino dropped me by my front gate and drove off. The 6ft gate was crowned with barbed wire and was chained and locked. In my wisdom I decided to scale it and succeeded! But the house was locked as Maria and the children had gone to mass. So I found a sun bench in a secluded patio and had a siesta. When Maria returned and did not find me home she phoned Cino immediately but he insisted that he had dropped me home. Search parties were immediately launched but to no avail until my faithful dog found me fast asleep on the couch!

These are fond memories we will always cherish of our dear Cino. May you rest in peace dear friend and may eternal light shine upon you.

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