STORIES APOSTOLAAT BEELD FROM THE IN PAST
FOND MEMORIES Every human being meets on his life’s path a few persons who are decisive for your future and who continue to guide you like the star of Bethlehem for the rest of your life. Anton van der Lee shares his memories of Brother Realinus Donders.
Brother Realinus Donders (1879-1966) will always remain in my memory as the most sympathetic teacher I ever had. I got to know him in 1943 in the third grade at the St. Emilius School in Loon op Zand. He was a short, corpulent brother with his spiked hair trimmed to a length that was quite exceptional in those days. He was a true friend of children, especially the little ones, good-natured, a motivated teacher and not the youngest either (63).
Realinus was music I remember that he knew a trick for moving his mouth like a rabbit and on the playground, he was often asked by the first graders: “Brother, do the rabbit”, which he promptly did, to the great hilarity of his youthful audience. But whoever said Realinus, also said music. He was all about music and it was no wonder that he had written a singing method entitled Geniet van het Lied (Enjoy the Song), published as usual by the Boys’ Orphanage Printing House in Tilburg. Every brother who had something special to offer in the area of education was invariably commissioned by the superior to develop a method, because this was a nice extra income for the Congregation.
Brother Realinus Donders.
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