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Jim McCormick was a teacher during the 1960s and 1970s at Portadown College. He taught History and Economic & Political History and took over as Head of Department when Mr Graham retired. He was the teacher in charge of the Army Cadet Force and a very popular teacher.
When he left Portadown he became director of the Open University in Belfast and then took up a post at Banbridge College of Further and Higher Education as Principal. Later he was appointed to the post of principal of Castlereagh College of Further and Higher Education and retired from there in 1998. Mr McCormick was a Further Education College Principal for over 22 years.
A history graduate of Trinity College Dublin he was recognised as an excellent teacher and a leading educational professional. He has been involved in the preparation of academic material for the study of, for example, the Battle of the Boyne and the Belfast to Dublin Railway.
“Mr James McCormick was the Army Cadet Force officer in school and he was one of the wittiest men I ever encountered. I will always remember him putting us into a defensive trench and then throwing in a “Thunder-Flash” to test our state of readiness for the next world war. Now remember, my body shape was not conducive to agile movements and any manoeuvre that required a speedy exit from a trench left me at a distinct disadvantage. Philip Henry, who later became an officer in 4 Royal Irish mortar platoon, left more footmarks on me as he left the trench than James Hampton had ever done in his prime on the rugby field.
Mr McCormick was later to become very successful as a Principal in the Further Education sector and his pipe developed a life of its own and was last seen living in Virginia. “Puff” and Mr Alastair Uprichard taught us to shoot at the TA Barracks’ indoor-range. They collected the rifles from the RUC Barracks and threw them into the boot of the car. Imagine that happening today; perhaps the movement of guns through the town during that time was more prevalent than we were aware of as school boys.
Fortiter Et Humaniter