🕯 Gary Bourke lit a candle

Letter Home byMichael Brennan From book: The Imageless World 'Peter Bohrsmann'. Could he write back now, and explain faith Interrupted past and present, how it stole his life And returned it as the lightest, meaningless thing? I could write something about corridors in the house Where I grew up, how the angle of shadow cut light In a ...more

'Contemplating Our Awakening'

Eulogly by John Bradshaw

🕯 Rhordon Balthazaar lit a candle Peter was 1st Division Boarding Master at Riverview and a gentle man who was very patient with me. I recall him sharing with me his love for McDonalds and saying "You know Rhordon, you can live on McDonalds every day. You just need a spoon of fibre and one's diet is complete. I've never forgotten that and have ret...more

🕯 Rhordon Balthazaar lit a candle I'm so very sorry you are gone Peter. Yet I know you will spend Eternity in true peace, and that pleases me.

I distinctly remember him taking me aside the afternoon I was suspended from St Augustines and told me that it was not imprtant and I was a good kid and don’t worry too much about it. He was a great guy and the best teacher I ever had and I reckon it would have given him enormous satisfaction knowing that. Larry Collier

I was in school with Paul O’Neill and only know Peter Bohrsmann as a gentleman, a gentle man, a great educator but most of all a carer of people. Mark Rogan

Peter was the teacher I can remember being kind and supportive at St Augustines in the 70′s. He was a great guy who I really respected. He was my Christian Doctrine teacher in year 10 and I topped the year in both the half yearly and yearly exam in that subject. As my schoolmates will attest, this was a major shock as I was not terribly interested ...more

I was at St Augustines Brookvale ( 1973 – 1980 ) and Peter Bohrsmann was my teacher. He was a great teacher & great bloke. Paul O'Neil I was also at St Augustine’s in Brookvale (1974 – 1981) and Peter Bohrsmann was also my teacher (3 years of Latin). I agree completely with Paul O’Neill, Peter was a great teacher and a great bloke. Simon Mahon ...more

I,like many of us at St Augustine's were very saddened and troubled by Peter’s death and the accusations that surrounded them as they were so out of character with the man of character we knew. Thank you Gary Bourke for confirming David’s account. I remember you and Peter attending many of our basketball games in the last 2 years at St Augustines...more

Peter Bohrsmann spoke movingly and eloquently. You could see his speech as a modern repetition of the condemnation by Jesus of much of the formal religion of his time and people. Antony Ruhan S.J.

Peter’s other great love in those days was McDonalds (with a strong preference for Fairlight over Brookvale). Go figure. So, here is to Peter. Although his death tragic, he touched the lives of many and I am confident we live in a better world for that. Andrew T

I knew Peter from my years at St Augustine’s (class-1981). Peter was never my teacher but we became very close friends when I was in year 10 through our mutual interest in photography. Peter was the unofficial school photographer at SAC and became his unlikely right hand assistant. Before I got to know Peter I struggled quite a bit at school, bein...more

When I read your email I knew immediately that Gary Bourke was the person on the phone. Gary and Peter were great, great mates. I am glad Gary has been in touch again – I am sure he knew Peter better than anyone. Gary’s comments about Peter’s fondness for the ocean resonate with me. Peter had us organised into a group that did gardening at an old p...more

. I remember his saying to me (more than once) “T, I would trust you with anything that was important”. Peter was smart, very humorous, strong, principled, somewhat unconventional, charitable and full of integrity. I say unconventional because he was both establishment and anti-establishment at the same time. He was his own person. I wasn’t mature ...more

It seems that everyone of us here has nothing but the fondest and most reverent memories of Ollie. When they made Peter Bohrsmann, they broke the mould. He was as special as he was one of a kind. C. Shannon

To hear that his passing may have been the result of a false accusation is even more hard to bear. I feel, as many here do, that Peter Bohrsmann was the best teacher I ever had, and like others here, I was fortunate to have a few good ones, but it was Ollie first, daylight second, as far as I’m concerned. C. Shannon.

God bless all of you on here for setting right this important story about a truly great man whom we all cherished as our teacher and mentor. God bless you, Ollie. C. Shannon.

I had to comment on Andrew’s recollection of Peter. That’s precisely as I remember him too. He gave us all, as young blokes, a sense of self worth when others often sought to take it away. So well said, Andrew! Chris Shannon.

I had him as my Latin teacher for 2 years, constantly referring to us as “the terminal Latin class” (we weren’t high achievers). Punishments consisted mainly of “the Sound of Music” re-runs! He was always there for us. S. Davidson.

It’s funny, in these times of constant accusations, my thoughts always return to Ollie. I, like many other boys at riverview, was sent away from my family to board in the big smoke. It was Bohrs who was always there to take the leftovers out to Maccas on a Sunday or to Manly for a swim. Sam Davidson.

May 1, 2017 When I was at rowing camp at the start of 5th form. I remember it being late at night and I saw the light on him his office. I went in and spoke to him about the fact I wanted to leave school and ‘was sick of everything’. Mr B encouraged me to stay and put it in terms I could understand. He said "think of it like this, you are an athlet...more

May 1, 2017   I was lucky enough to have Mr Bohrsmann as a teacher during my time at Riverview. A man of the highest integrity and class who put the school and all others before himself. He was brilliant teacher and he lived the school motto of ‘being a man for others’ . Richard O'Rourke.

pat October 4, 2018 at 12:11 pm " God bless you Ollie……….Your presence at Riverview, and the young students you came in contact with, very very much added to the fact that we turned into good young men. I thank God that my time on earth coincided with that of yours. pat " (this message, like the many others recorded here, is taken from 'D...more

🕯 Mr Gary Bourke lit a candle January 31st 2020. Peter Bohrsmann's 80th birth-date anniversary. You wouldn't have made it mate: didn't like the thought of old age - I do well recall ! Gaz

Peter Bohrsmann is well remembered as choirmaster. 2024 will be the 50th anniversary of St Augustine's College Choir's Recital Series 1974, as recorded on an L.P. , "The Collegiate Choir of Saint Augustine, Recital Series 1974''. During the Recital Series, the choir sang at the College Chapel, and at three other locations, namely, St. James' Churc...more