Pat Boucher is so beloved by the staff of University Hill secondary that three years after her retirement as the school’s administrative assistant she is being honoured with a plaque.
“What sets her apart is that she did the job of three people, she did it compassionately, she always had a smile for people, she bailed people out of their messes, she was capable of doing four things at one time, she really was the heart and soul of the school,” said Paula Aaronson, head of the math department, who worked with Boucher for 16 years.
“If you needed something you went to Pat, except for pencils,” Aaronson added. “She didn’t give away pencils.”
Former and current administrators and teachers planned to gather Thursday afternoon, after the Courier’s print deadline, to award Boucher the plaque.
Mark Pearmain, former principal of U-Hill, now one of the Vancouver School Board’s directors of instruction, initiated the idea of honouring Boucher.
“She was just such a lovely presence, just a calm presence in the office and someone who was really giving to everybody, to the staff, to the students, to the parent community,” he said.
“[She] was a very, very, very huge supporter of that U-Hill community and that school community for many, many years.”
Boucher worked at U-Hill for nearly 40 years, including when Pearmain’s father was principal.
Boucher says Permain was “full of beans” as a five-year-old and full of energy as a principal.
Both men attended her retirement.
Boucher also recalls dealing with children of U-Hill graduates.
“That was really a setback,” she said with a laugh.
Boucher never worked at the new, larger University Hill school that opened on Wesbrook Mall at the University of B.C. last January. Instead, she worked at the crammed old school that was built for 350 students and went from accommodating 300 to 550 students in her time there, according to Aaronson.
But Boucher doesn’t mind.
“It was my second family there,” she said. “I really enjoyed working at that school.
“I couldn’t see myself going to the new school. That was my school,” she added. “It was really sad when I went by and it wasn’t there.”
Norma Rose Point elementary school is being constructed on the site of the old U-Hill secondary at 4102 West 16th Ave. and is expected to open in September.
crossi@vancourier.com
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