VPHS Magazine 2014 | Page 39

VPHS It was during this stage of her life that she married her second husband, Paddy Taylor, now sadly deceased. Paddy’s great love of the sea was reflected both in his enthusiasm for sailing and in the many ocean cruises that he and Hildi enjoyed. thusiastically. From standard nine onwards Mrs Taylor attended Paarl Girls High and then went on to study a secretarial course at Rhodes University, before travelling overseas with friends. She returned to South Africa, where she married and raised a family consisting of three children - a daughter who attended VP and is a teacher in Johannesburg, and two sons who are both in the business world. Between them they have produced four grandchildren. While her job obviously revolves around the headmaster, it also involves a great deal of liaison with the rest of the staff. As a colleague I have always found her to be a great administrator with an impressive command of English, whose sense of humour, love of people and loyalty to the school have made her a valued colleague. Another thing most of us don’t know is that Hildi’s family, apart from being German is both aristocratic and long-lived. All of her four siblings are still alive, as is her mother who is a youthful looking 92