20/09/2026
Today we remember Shirley Marin - a much-loved member of the Camps Bay High School family.
Shirley’s connection with Camps Bay High went back many years. She knew the school first as a parent, and later became part of the school community in an administrative capacity. Over the years, her role may have taken different forms, but what remained constant was the care and dedication she brought to everything she did.
Shirley was one of those people who worked quietly behind the scenes, but whose contribution was woven into the very fabric of the school.
She had an extraordinary eye for detail and took great pride in keeping the school’s records in immaculate order. In fact, the school came to know her as its resident archivist - an entirely fitting description for someone who understood the importance of preserving the history of a place.
Because schools are not only buildings, classrooms and timetables. They are made up of generations of people, stories, achievements, photographs, records and memories. And Shirley was one of the people who made sure those things were carefully looked after.
But there was another part of Shirley that makes the legacy she leaves at Camps Bay particularly special: she was an avid reader.
It is therefore wonderfully fitting that the school has a Shirley Marin Trophy for the Most Diligent Senior Reader.
That trophy was established while Shirley was still part of the Camps Bay community, and it has continued to be awarded long after she left the school. It is still part of our Celebration Awards today.
On 7 October, once again, a Camps Bay High learner will walk up to receive the Shirley Marin Trophy.
And we think there is something rather beautiful about that.
Shirley loved reading. She cared deeply about the school. She spent years preserving its records and, in doing so, helping to preserve its memory. And now, every year, her own name becomes part of a new memory for another Camps Bay learner.
Her contribution was never necessarily the loudest or most visible. It was the kind that sits quietly underneath everything else - dependable, meticulous, caring and lasting.
Those of us who know Camps Bay High understand that a school is built over generations. Each person who passes through it leaves something behind.
Shirley certainly did.
She leaves behind the records she so carefully preserved, the memories of the people who knew and worked alongside her, her love of reading, the trophy that carries her name, and, most importantly, the people who loved her - including her daughter, Jenny.
We are grateful that Shirley was part of the Camps Bay High story.
And we are grateful that, through her name and the legacy she left behind, she will continue to be part of it.
Rest peacefully, Shirley.
You will be remembered.
