Wolmer’s Boys’ School was plunged into mourning late last week after the passing of its longest-serving Headmaster Eric Coleridge Barnett.

Wolmer’s Trust Chairman Milton Samuda, in a statement, noted that Barnett, himself a Wolmerian, led the school at a critical time in its exceptional history and influenced an entire generation of Wolmerians.

“A historian and teacher of history, teaching and service were in his blood, courtesy of his mother Thelma, herself a teacher, and father Eric, a member of the Jamaican civil service,” Samuda said.

He said that Barnett came of age in the unfolding of the Caribbean independence movement and was influenced for life by his educational experiences, especially at Wolmer’s, the University College of the West Indies, and at Richmond College in London.

“His local and international teaching career, which took him to England, Scotland and Belize, prepared him for his most important, longest and deeply rewarding challenge, that of headmaster of his alma mater,” Samuda said, adding that Barnett met the challenge head-on, reaping a reward of respect, admiration and affection.

“On behalf of the Wolmer’s Trust and the entire Wolmer’s family, I extend our condolences to his entire family, particularly his children Alan, Alison, Karen and their respective families. Now reunited with his beloved Catriona, may his soul, through the mercy of God, rest in peace,” Samuda said.