Mr Roger Summerill OAM Retires from School Council

July 31, 2020  

When our long-serving Chair of Council, Mr Roger Summerill OAM announced to our School Community that he was ready to retire from Council, I must admit that I couldn’t imagine that event actually occurring. Roger has been such a stalwart at our School for all of my time at TIGS and much longer indeed. However, he is a man of his word and indeed has stepped away from his formal position of Council member to spend time with his lovely wife Anne and their family. I know that both Roger and Anne are keen travellers and hope that they can soon be off cruising as was their plan.

Roger was elected to Council in July 1997 and appointed as Chair in 1999. He has served our School community with dedication and care for 23 years. He is extremely well connected in the Illawarra and his media and leadership expertise have been most helpful to our School during his tenureship. Roger is a wonderful advocate for independent schooling, parent choice and TIGS particularly. He was a most encouraging and supporting Chair to me in my first year of principalship and I am indebted to him.
We hope to properly acknowledge and farewell Roger at a community event later in the year when this is appropriate and permitted. In the meantime, I know that our School Community joins me in wishing Roger and Anne a happy retirement together and that we all look forward to their continued attendance in TIGS functions as our honoured guests and friends.

“Roger has left a significant legacy to TIGS. I am thankful for the support he has provided to four Principals and his service to the school, especially in leading the process to find our current Principal, Mrs Judi Nealy. Roger has personified what it means to be servant-hearted and committed to our school community. At a stage of life where it could have been easy to say “I have done enough” he chose to give up time pursuing hobbies, travel and other interests to serve our school – and TIGS has been richly blessed as a result of this.”
Prof. Tony Okely, Chair of School Council.