Teacher, priest and puppeteer

The
Catholic Weekly
Online

Sydney
1 February 2004

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Teacher, priest and puppeteer

Riding a wild horse ...

Up there, Ignatius!

Mates give Bulls’ groom Super send-off

Teacher, priest and puppeteer

Noel Crusz ... variety of roles

NOEL CRUSZ 1921–2003

By Alan Gill

Noel Crusz, who died a week before Christmas, just a few days after his 82nd birthday, was variously a priest, film-maker, schoolteacher, writer and journalist, ventriloquist, puppeteer, broadcaster and catechist at St Mary’s, Concord.

He was also the beloved husband of his wife, Tirzah.

A blue air letter (aerogram) brought us together in 1962. I was a young journalist on a British hobbies magazine devoted to cinematography. The editor requested a spot of spring cleaning. While thus engaged I found a dusty letter which had fallen, unopened, behind a cabinet. The sender identified himself as Noel Crusz OMI.

He told of the formation of a film unit among pupils at a Catholic school in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and the use of a 16mm movie camera to combat minor disciplinary problems and foster what nowadays would be called “personal development”.

The editor of Amateur Cine World was impressed by the letter and agreed to my suggestion that I contact Noel Crusz and write an article. I did just that, earning a front page story and a by-line. What more could a young reporter want?

Noel Crusz was born on December 6, 1921, into a Burgher (Dutch-Portuguese minority) family in the old Dutch colonial city of Galle. He was the second eldest of six boys and two girls.

He was educated at St Peter’s College, Colombo, run by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. At 17, he decided that God was calling him. He was ordained in 1948, having completed theological studies, plus a BA at London University. He returned to his old school, St Peter’s, where he taught English, history, and religious studies.

In 1952, Noel was invited to undertake a Diploma of Education course at Fordham University, USA. The emphasis was on communications.

Noel was greatly influenced by Bishop Fulton Sheen, then considered to be way ahead of his time.

In Los Angeles he met Bing Crosby (with whom he corresponded for many years), Tyrone Power and Loretta Young.

In London, he was coached by Fr Agnellus Andrew OFM, head of Catholic religious broadcasting, and was the first Asian interviewed on the BBC’s In Town Tonight.

And in Italy he met Sophia Loren, read the news on Vatican Radio and – an encounter he particularly valued – met and interviewed Allesandro Serenelli, the contrite murderer of St Maria Goretti. He also met the saint’s mother, and was touched when she kissed his crucifix. He later produced a documentary film based on these meetings.

Noel produced a weekly Catholic Hour for the government’s radio network back in Ceylon and also wrote newsreel scripts.

In 1955 he was sent as a teacher to St Joseph’s College, Colombo, where he began more direct involvement behind a camera.

There had been minor pilfering at the school, which Noel tackled by making a film with a moral: a remake of Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves. Young people clamoured for roles in the film, also assisting with production, sound recording and editing. The nation’s leaders attended the opening performance.

With his precious Bolex 16mm camera as the instrument, Noel made numerous other films.

In time, Noel sought laicisation – which was then becoming available – from Pope Paul VI. He quit the order and began a career as a journalist, first as lobby correspondent and later as deputy editor of two newspapers. In May 1967 – having awaited lawful laicisation – Noel married a distant relative, Tirzah Crusz.

In 1973, having fallen foul of the government in some way, the newspapers on which Noel worked were closed by government decree and the building surrounded by troops. Noel and Tirzah applied to emigrate to Australia. They arrived here in July 1974. I was their sponsor.

After a brief spell as a journalist, Noel reverted to his first love of teaching, obtaining a post at Patrician Brothers College, Blacktown. He was to stay there for 17 years, his individual approach to teaching – which included drama and puppetry – proving very popular.

He also became active in the affairs of St Mary’s parish, Concord. And, in retirement, he taught religious education in state schools. He was in demand, too, for filming weddings.

He became Australian correspondent for various Sri Lankan newspapers.

Noel was a gifted historian and, as such, spent much of the last decade writing The Cocos Islands Mutiny (Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 2001), which told the story of the only executions for treason involving British Commonwealth troops in World War II.

Noel scripted and broadcast several programs for Radio National.

Topics included the Cocos mutiny, the Titanic sinking (he was a true Titanic buff) and the story of the bridge on the River Kwai.

He was an occasional contributor to The Catholic Weekly, his last piece an inspiring article in May 2002 about the national tour of the relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux.

Stories abound of his delighting, and sometimes upsetting people at street markets when, using his powers as a ventriloquist, teddy bears and other animals would “speak”.

In the past five or six years of his life Noel faced acute stress and discomfort when an allergy to the dye injected into his body during an angiogram affected his kidneys forcing him to spend long hours in a dialysis machine every week.

He undertook the treatment without complaining, writing letters to his friends (using the hand that was not wired up) and inspiring other patients.

His personal faith remained strong. He rose at an unearthly hour, and said his Breviary daily.