Clement Felix, former headmaster of the Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School, died in Chennai on Thursday. He was 81.
Felix had joined the school in 1963 and was the Headmaster and Correspondent of the school from 1973 to 1992. During his tenure, he received the State award from the Tamil Nadu government for his contribution to the field of education in 1983. In 1991, he received the national award.
“He was loved by all his students and this was evident in all of the alumni who came today. He was the headmaster when the 150th annual day of the school was celebrated in 1985 in which then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi attended the event,” said Margaret Elisabeth Felix, his wife and the former principal of the Doveton Corrie Girls School.
While the new auditorium in the school was built during his tenure, Felix had also initiated and encouraged the presence of the MRF Pace foundation on campus.
G.J. Manohar, the present Headmaster and Correspondent of the MCC Higher Secondary School, who was a student of the school from 1974 to 1981, said that Clement Felix had been extremely cordial with the students and faculty as a headmaster.
“He was the warden in-charge of the hostel as well and was always accessible and ready to help out students. He had a commanding presence — most of us students were also in complete awe of him. He taught English and many of us loved how much importance he gave to sports as well,” he recalled.
