Celebration of Mr Goodacre’s Life, Friday 27 June 2025, Bill Bowden Pavilion
June 2025: With deep sadness, the Wynberg Boys’ Schools community learned of the passing of Mr Jim Goodacre, a few days after his 92nd birthday. A former Deputy Headmaster of Wynberg Boys’ Junior School, serving under the late Jan Oosthuizen, Mr Goodacre joined WBJS in the early 1970s, bringing with him an extraordinary passion for education and innovation in the classrooms and beyond. From school societies, to the sports fields, and the cultural life of the school, Jim, and indeed his whole family were soon involved in the School’s music, theatre, and the arts for a decade until he was appointed Headmaster of Herzlia Primary, where he served with love and distinction until his retirement.
While Wynberg’s loss was Herzlia’s gain, Jim’s ties to the Wynberg Schools remained strong, and in the early 1980s, he was approached by the late Desmond Wiehann with a music score he’d written, asking Jim to consider penning words to what he hoped might become the Wynberg Boys’ Schools’ Song. First performed publicly in 1984, the melody and Jim’s lyrics have become central to the Wynberg story, magnificently defining the story of our School and its ethos. Jim’s legendary words, ‘brothers in an endless chain’, encapsulate the spirit of generations of boys and both the Junior and High schools, and their bond as Wynberg Men across the generations.
Awarded Honorary Life Membership of the Wynberg Old Boys’ Union during the Schools’ 175th founding celebrations in 2016, Jim’s lyrics were used reverently in both the title to the anniversary musical tribute to Wynberg ‘From an Acorn to an Oak Tree’ and the commemorative book of the School ‘Brothers in an Endless Chain’. But his lasting tribute will surely be the thousands of Wynberg boys who continue to raise their voices in harmony and pride as the first recognisable bars of the School Song ring out in our halls, assemblies, and on sports fields everywhere.
Wynberg Boys’ Junior and High Schools, and the Wynberg Old Boys’ Union extend our sincere condolences to Jim’s wife Irene, their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and the staff and past pupils of Herzlia.
Few men have the chance to both live, exemplify, and write their own tribute – we respectfully suggest that part of Jim’s memory as a passionate family man, friend, mentor, and teacher include the words:
“Joined by pride and linked by honour, Wynberg boys they all remain.”
Rest in Peace, Mr Goodacre, forever a brother in our endless chain.
