Vancouver Welsh Men's Choir
Honours Gareth Prytherch
By EIFION WILLIAMS
VANCOUVER - This past summer, at a Gala Concert in Ryerson United Church, Gareth Prytherch was honoured by the Vancouver Welsh Men's Choir with an honorary life membership in recognition of his long association with the choir.
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Gareth Prytherch
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Gareth's contribution to the VWMC shows one side of a man who appears to have already lived several lives. Who else can lay claim to having spent time in a German POW camp, worked as a business representative in Africa, appeared in a movie, chatted with Katherine Hepburn, taught at high school and university, and picked up five languages along the way? And this is skimming the surface of Gareth's life so far.
Born in New Quay on the Welsh coast, Gareth grew up in the mining village of Resolven in the Vale of Neath, where his father owned a hardware store. His mother died when he was two years old and Gareth fondly recalls that this void in his life was filled by the kindness of the community and his many friends.
He delights in relating stories about his boyhood in the village and the characters he came to know. He is grateful to his father for insisting that he spoke Welsh in an area with strong anglicizing influences. Above all, he remembers the wonderful singing in the chapel every Sunday and this love of singing has remained with him throughout his life.
After attending grammar school in Towyn, North Wales, Gareth worked briefly in a hardware store in Swansea, then attended a technical school before volunteering for the Merchant Navy at the beginning of the Second World War. Unfortunately, the ship to which he was assigned was sunk during an air raid on Bristol.
Gareth then became an air observer on anti-submarine patrols based in Cornwall, before joining Bomber Command, 149 Squadron. In 1943 he bailed out over Frankfurt and spent the next two years in POW Camp Stalag 1VB, being finally liberated by the Red Army in April 1945.
Gareth always has a positive view of life. In talking of his wartime imprisonment, he is likely to comment on acts of kindness on the part of his captors rather than any harsh treatment he received. He also came to appreciate the importance of communication and credits Stalag 1VB with his decision to learn German and French.
After the war Gareth earned a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from Southampton University, specializing in Industry and Trade in South America, For this, he added to his collection of languages by learning Spanish.
In the early 1950s, he spent three years working for the Cocoa Marketing Board in Nigeria.
Following his stint in Nigeria, Gareth taught economic history and French in Bath Technical College.
He then began a new life in Canada, taking up a teaching post in North Surrey Secondary, followed by many years teaching in the Vancouver school system. He taught at King George, Magee and Eric Hamber, where he was head of the Languages Department. During this time he also obtained a Bachelor of Education and Master of Arts degrees at University of British Columbia.
Lest one thinks this period in his life was relatively uneventful, Gareth spent three years during the 1970s teaching in a Canadian Armed Forces school in Lahr, West Germany, where he renewed his interest in music by joining the Concordia male voice choir which he says sang beautiful German folk music.
Gareth's life has not been without tragedy. His wife Doreen died shortly after the family returned from Germany. They had raised three children together, Rhodri, Rhys and Sian. During his wife's illness Gareth gave up teaching and served as a part-time sessional lecturer in the Faculty of Education at UBC, preparing teachers of French, German and Spanish.
Gareth joined the VWMC shortly after its inception. Over the years he has toured many countries with the choir, including Australia, New Zealand, West Germany and Holland.
In addition to singing, he has also acted as the choir's translator and pronunciation coach, including preparing members for the choir's appearance in their memorable London Albert Hall appearance in 2000. Today, choir members know him as "the voice on the Welsh pronunciation tapes."
Sometime in the 1980s Gareth was one of eight choir members invited to play the role of monks and sing a Gregorian Chant in the movie Mrs. Delderfield Wants to Marry. It was while making the movie that he had his famous chat with its star, Katherine Hepburn.
Gareth is also an active member of the Vancouver Welsh Society, having been a member since his arrival in Vancouver over 50 years ago. Of the five languages in which he is fluent, he loves Welsh the most.
Over the years he has been a regular speaker and raconteur in a variety of Society events and is a faithful member of its monthly bilingual church service and Welsh-speaking get-togethers. He has also periodically taught Welsh to various groups and individuals.
Described by one Welsh Society member as "a Welshman to the core," Gareth also has a healthy appreciation for other languages and cultures. He has been a member of Alliance Francaise and the Spanish Circle in Vancouver and has encouraged the VWMC to develop an international repertoire in keeping with Canada's multicultural society.
According to long-time friend and Welsh Society member John Pritchard, when thinking of Gareth the Welsh adjectives that come to mind are hynaws, tyner, tirion and bonheddig, which translate into English as genial, gracious, kind and considerate. Gareth, he says, is truly a "gentleman."
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