We were saddened to hear of the passing of Mike Cane on 21 July 2021. Mike taught Chemistry at Bloxham from 1970 to 1992, was Housemaster of Raymond House from 1974 to 1984 and then Deputy Headmaster for his last eight years at the school. He then went on to become Headmaster of Grenville College in Devon.. In his retirement in Instow, Mike was struck by the twin tragedies of the loss of his beloved wife Rosie and their daughter Catherine, but in his final years he was blessed by the love and care of the wonderful Maggie. Our sympathies go to her, to his son Robert and Mike’s and Rosie’s grandchildren.
His oldest and closest Bloxham friend, Roger Stein, has penned this tribute to Mike:
When Derek Seymour interviewed Mike Cane for the Chemistry job at Bloxham, his verdict was ‘rough diamond’. Enough said, perhaps; Mike’s time here certainly confirmed the second word. As to the first, on the surface he embodied the East End. The first thing about him that comes to mind? A sense of humour. Let’s start with his car. A smart green Morris Minor 1000. So far so good. But then, its number: NOB 883. Hence his nickname, Doc Nob. The boys liked it, and so did he. His sense of humour bubbled just below the surface, often above it. Ridiculous jokes, always with a fit of the giggles: ‘Slept like a log last night. Woke up in the fireplace.’ ‘He walked with a pronounced limp. L I M P, pronounced limp’. That’s what made him such a good teacher; he and Robin Hillman, later joined by Colin McCarty, made a great team, producing some outstanding textbooks together. One of his book titles summed him up: ‘Organic Chemistry, a Problem-solving Approach’. He was a superb problem-solver and a good detective as well, notably in finding the perpetrators of the ‘Happy Christmas’ notice which appeared one Founderstide above the visiting speaker’s head.
There was the odd slip of the tongue: by accident ‘chemical compounds’ became ‘comical chempounds’. As a Housemaster, he made Raymond a notably happy and welcoming community. His tutor team was a potent mix of clashing personalities: Alan Griffin, Ian Hatton and Richard Askwith, with Colin Stewart’s calm presence as whisky dispenser.
Mike was a brilliant speaker and actor, unforgettable as the sergeant in ‘Pirates of Penzance’; his double act with Peter Mayes as a would-be ‘Pete and Dud’ was a witty piece of improvised comedy. Talking of improvised, he signed my daughter Elizabeth’s final report ‘Uncle Mike’. She wasn’t best pleased, thinking it wouldn’t improve her chances of a university place (it did). When he left Bloxham in 1991, it was to take on the Headship at Grenville College Bideford, where his astute leadership led to much progress.
My abiding memories of Mike are of our two families. We were totally relaxed with each other; Marian and Rosie, giggling together in the back row of WI meetings or trying on awful clothes at C & A in Oxford. Mike and I, enjoying each other’s company over a beer or two. Two families, the Canes and the Steins; carefree holidays in Wales, where a local brewery, Felinfoel, became ‘Feeling Foul Ales’, Guernsey and Cyprus. And beneath the banter was a quiet profundity; he was full of wise counsel, both professionally and personally, as I have cause to remember with much gratitude. It would be wrong to call Mike ‘religious’: quite simply, he was a Christian. His faith was tragically tested: first by his daughter Catherine’s diagnosis with brain cancer and premature death, followed a few years later by Rosie’s passing. Finally, just six years after his happy marriage to Maggie, came the remorseless onset of dementia.
Michael Charles Victor Cane, a man of integrity. I miss him very much.