Farewell to our Beloved Founder

John Arthur Langdon, the founder of Dominion English Schools New Zealand, passed on in Auckland hospital at 3.00am this morning. He was 73 years old.

John was well known. Known for his incredibly bad taste jokes, a sense of humour that embarrassed the hardest of us, his offensive collection of ties and his own very unique dress code. We will never forget all this. He was praised for his spirited delivery of the haka, his soft shoe shuffle, his poetry, his stories, his wide general knowledge and his ability to touch peoples’ hearts. “You have touched the heart of a New Zealander” he would say on meeting anyone from anywhere around the world, as he clutched their hand to his heart. John was all heart. He worked from there. He built his Dominion English School on his love of learning and his love of people. From 1969 until 5 years ago, that was where he worked every day, creating a unique school. He was the guru of the new industry as English Language Schools sprang up around him in New Zealand, but he kept his first school in Auckland and the school that followed on in Christchurch reigned in to being first and foremost a place where staff and students from all around the world felt a warm welcome and a special place to work or study.

John had failing health over the last few months and went peacefully today.

Our thoughts are with his family.