Inspirational education pioneer

Miss Annie Beatrice (Bea) Boardman, a former principal of Dandenong Girls High School during the 1960s, passed away recently having reached the age of 104.
A funeral service was held for Bea Boardman at Le Pine Chapel in Dandenong and was attended by family, friends and former students, including a number from Dandenong Girls High School.
This school in earlier days was located in Cleeland Street, Dandenong, and later became known as Cleeland High School.
For many years from the 1930s onwards Bea’s family had a weekender house at One Tree Hill, Ferny Creek.
Over a 30 to 40 year period from the 1960s onwards Bea lived at Sassafras where she built a house and established a large garden, and at Emerald where she did the same, and at Monbulk where she took on an existing house with large garden.
Miss Boardman was fondly remembered by a number of ex-students, some of whom spoke at her funeral service and she was seen to have made a significant contribution to young people’s lives throughout her teaching career.
Her influence has been described as inspirational, helping shape many a career and scholarly pursuit and she enthusiastically passed on her many and varied interests to others, particularly her passion for music.
Miss Boardman also helped open up possibilities for women to take on senior roles within education at a time when this was quite uncommon and resisted by many.
She was known as an independent thinker and a pioneer in more ways than one.
One example fondly remembered was her innovative use, way back in the 1960s, of a small electric car to help navigate the long corridors of the Dandenong school, sometimes with the odd staff member or pupil hitching a ride on the back.
This unique vehicle, along with its driver, was once featured on the front page of the Melbourne Herald evening newspaper.
Her teaching career spanned many decades at secondary schools right around Victoria including Rochester High, MacRobertson Girls, Warrnambool, Leongatha, Seymour, Nunawading, Flemington and Williamstown High.
At several of these she was senior headmistress.
To many of her friends she was known as Bea and she was born to parents Arthur Reginald and Florence Maude in Armadale, Victoria on 1 October 1909.
She grew up with her younger sister Mabel in Prahran, attended Hawksburn Primary and University High Schools, and completed a master of arts and bachelor of education at the University of Melbourne.
Along the way Bea played hockey for Uni High, represented Victoria, and achieved an Australian Hockey Blue while playing for Melbourne University.
Bea was also an accomplished cellist and played in a number of local groups and orchestras both in and around Dandenong and the nearby hills.
She taught the cello and accompanied many other musicians on the piano.
She also had a keen interest in the Dandenong Festival of Music and Art.
For most of her retirement years Bea lived in the Dandenong Ranges for which she had a love and she also had a passion for gardening and travel.
She lived independently well into her nineties and spent some of her later happy years among friends at Fiddlers Green Retirement Village in Berwick.