Inspirational teacher Tony Tierney has been remembered with love from young and old.
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Tributes are flowing for the late Sunshine Bay Public School teacher who passed away at the age of 68 on August 18.
Family, colleagues and students of Mr Tierney have remembered the Lilli Pilli resident as an inspirational teacher, passionate family man and dog lover.
Mr Tierney was husband to Mary, and father to Michael and Shannon.
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He taught at Sunshine Bay for 27 years, 20 of them before his “retirement”. He returned as a pivotal casual for seven years.
Assistant Principal Tracey Bennett said Mr Tierney brought his extraordinary life experiences to his teaching.
“He had a deep love for public education, which he demonstrated by being a teacher,” she said.
“He was an asset to our school and will be deeply missed.”
Teacher Lou Counsell, recognised Mr Tierney as an amazing colleague and friend.
“(Tony) inspired kids and shared his love of literature, poetry, travel … the list is unending,” she said.
Year 4 and 5 students at Sunshine Bay have also paid tribute to the late teacher.
“He had the best personality and did fun things with us,” said one.
“When he read stories, he would do funny voices of the different people talking,” said another.
A service for Mr Tierney was to be held on August 29 at Broulee Memorial Gardens Crematorium.
Daughter and fellow teacher Shannon said year 2W had fond memories of his classes.
“The current Year 2 students remember Mr Tierney helping them make pottery echidnas when they were in Year 1,” she said.
“They made them for their Mother’s Day gifts. The pottery echidnas store toothpicks for the dinner table and many students still use them today. They thought this activity was great fun.”
In their own words: “Mr Tierney helped us to realise how fun pottery can be. He helped us to learn our sounds. He was great fun and very funny.
“He always wore colourful, rainbow jackets, which was loved. He had a special jacket with a wolf which was really cool and looked very warm.
“He had a very big dog which was black and furry. He told us that he got up very early every morning, around 5:30am to walk his dog on the beach. He was very nice and caring to all of us.
“He told us great stories and always used fantastic voices for each character to make it fun and interesting.
“He was a great teacher.”
Those sentiments were echoed in Year 2W.
“He was a very caring and unassuming man who quietly helped his colleagues without need for praise or validation,” a colleague said.
“He was a great performer and trained many verse-speaking groups over the years, winning multiple 1st place awards at the Shoalhaven Eisteddfod. He will be greatly missed but remembered by his warmth and charm. He was always making a gastro-delight in the staff room at lunch and either offering international recipes or instructions on how to make your own diesel to the younger staff members.”
To a grandparent he was “an absolute gentleman and a wonderful teacher”.
“Most students taught by him have very fond and endearing memories of him,” the school said, as these quotes from 4/5B and 4/5L students show.
“He told lots of stories about his dog and what his life was like when he was a kid.”
“He got strict every now and then.”
“He was funny and smart.”
“He had the best personality and did fun things with us.”
“When he read stories he would do funny voices of the different people talking.”
“Sometimes he gave us 100 to 200 spelling words for talking.”
“He made pottery leaves with us and did other nice art too.”
“His favorite book was Hatchet.”
“He told a story abut when he was a kid and he was singing in the hall and a teacher said to him: 'Would you rather sing in front of the whole school or take the cane?' Mr Tierney said, 'I'll take the cane.'”
“His favourite jacket was the one with the wolf on it.”
Tracey Bennett recalls an "interested and interesting man".
"When you got to know him, he let you into a life of extraordinary experiences,” she said.
“He looked unassuming, but he was an excellent skier and loved caving. He was an opal fossicker, made beautiful leadlight windows and his own diesel fuel.
“He was a mad scientist, an avid historian and voracious reader. He loved to travel and his home is full of treausres from around the world.
“In his later years he was happy just being at home, walking his dog, and spending time with his wife.
“He brought to Sunshine Bay, along with Lou and Roy Counsell, the skills of a consummate verse speaker and mentored myself and others so our school continues to achieve highly in this area in the Shoalhaven Eisteddfod,” Ms Bennett said.
“He wasn't precious about sharing his skills, he just wanted what was best for the kids.
“Tony had a great sense of humour. We teased him about his hair; how it was suspiciously black for a man in middle age, as well as his love of wearing big jackets imported from Canada; and the hat he wore to sports carnivals that made him look like Ivan Milat.”
Ms Bennett said Mr Tierney always dressed up for book week, as our picture above of him dressed as the Harry Potter character, Snape, shows.
“Tony was 'old school' and he had a deep love for public education, which he demonstrated by being a teacher in a lot of very different parts of NSW,” Ms Bennett said.
“He was an asset to our school and is sadly missed.”
These comments from KB and the picture of the pottery class show Mr Tierney’s hand-on lesson style left a lasting impression.
“Thankyou Mr T for showing us how to make your special leaf bowl. They look just beautiful.”
"We miss you." Ollie
"We are happy that you made pottery with us." Logan
"You were great at teaching us." Harlow
"Thankyou for making the pottery with us." Taeg
"We miss you and we want you to come back." Halle
"We always want you to come back and make some bowls." Shannon.
"We like our pottery." Bailey
"We liked doing pottery with you." Lili
"Thankyou for helping us make the pottery." Ella, James and Jack.
"We miss you." Shayla
"We like your pottery and it is nice." Jake
"We miss you helping us make pottery." Bonnie.
"I love my pottery, thankyou." Ruby
"Thankyou Mr T." Kaiden
Fellow teacher Lou Counsell remembers "an amazing colleague and friend".
On behalf of her husband, former principal Roy Counsell, and their children Lisa and Sophie, Mrs Counsell paid tribute to an inspirational teacher.
"I first met Tony and Mary when Roy and I arrived in the scorching heat of the outback town, Lightning Ridge,” Mrs Counsell said.
“Tony and Mary, having arrived the year earlier, were old pros by now, and helped us newbies to adjust.
"Thirty years on and teaching in a much kinder part of the state, Tony continued to share his skills with so many teachers. He still inspired kids and still shared h is love of literature, poetry, travel ... the list is unending."