May 8, 2003
Fellow LAS old timers and friends of Surti,
After over 44 years at LAS, dear old Surti is finally retiring. It's the end of an era! I'm sure you will all join me in thanking him and wishing him the very best. There will be a small retirement ceremony at LAS this month, in which Superintendent Thomas Tunny will present Surti with the final installment of tribute funds collected in his honor and a letter of appreciation that I sent on behalf of LAS alumni (copy of letter attached below). I trust everyone will forgive the impromptu creation of the "LAS Alumni Association" and my self-appointment as it's representative - it was for a good cause.
I thought this would be a good time to give you all a final update on the Surti Tribute Fund project. In short it was a great success. We collected $4989.10! With the counsel of several LAS administration representatives, the money was distributed to Surti in three installments of $1,000 in February 2001, $3665 in August 2001 and $324.10 in May 2003. Surti was absolutely thrilled at the generosity and thoughtfulness of the contributors and has expressed his profound gratitude. Attached is a photo of him receiving the second installment from Mr. Tunny in 2001. Undoubtedly, the fund achieved our objective of helping to ease some the challenges of retirement and old age for Surti. It amounted to an impressive sum when converted to rupees! I would like to add my personal thanks to all those alumni and friends who contributed so generously and made it possible for us to demonstrate to Surti that his kindness and humanity were not forgotten.
Warmest regards,
Patrick Eckford
Content of letter sent to Surti on the occasion of his retirement from LAS:
May 1, 2003
Dear Surti,
On behalf of LAS alumni and your many friends throughout the world, I have the honor and privilege of congratulating you on your upcoming retirement and thanking you for over forty years of devoted service to the students and faculty of Lahore American School.
Over these many years, your dedication, humility and humanity have touched each one of us in a special way and we have all come away, richer for the experience of having known you. You will be sorely missed but never forgotten.
We hope that the next phase of your life brings the deserved rewards of peace and contentment. Know that in virtually every corner of the globe, you are remembered with great admiration, fondness and appreciation.
Respectfully,
Patrick Eckford
Class of 1970
LAS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Email received from Mr. Tunny when he made the presentation to Surti in 2001:
----Original Message----- From: thomas tunny [mailto:tomtunny@hotmail.com] Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2001 3:11 AM To: patrick_eckford@meeting.com Subject: Fwd:
Dear Patrick, I am attaching a couple of pictures from the presentation to Surti of the check which you and your friends so generously donated.
Needless to say, Surti was thrilled! He asked me to send along his thanks to all of you for your kindness and good memories of him. He has plans to invest the money and get ready for his retirement...but knowing Surti who knows when that will happen!!
In the picture we have members of the Student Council, teachers, and school staff who have known Surti for many years.
Again, thank you from all of us for what you have done for this kind and gentle man. I think I remember him saying he is now in his 42nd year at LAS. He sure has seen a lot of people come and go.
Best Regards,
Tom
PS Please let me know how the pictures came through.
Tom Tunny, Superintendent Lahore American School 15 Upper Mall, Canal Bank Lahore 54000 - Pakistan
