Highly revered educator Hernan Ochaeta Awe completed his journey on earth on Sunday, 8th September, 87 years after his birth on May 6, 1937. Maestro Hernan was a teacher at Lynam Agricultural College in Stann Creek, and thereafter he taught the children and youth of San Ignacio/Santa Elena at St. Andrew’s Anglican School in San Ignacio. Maestro Hernan did not confine himself to the classroom. He believed that physical activities were extremely important for our youth, and was very involved in the promotion of athletics and softball competitions for young people in the Cayo District.

Maestro Hernan believed in service, and lived to the fullest the maxim: With service we pay the rent for the space we occupy on Earth.

After retiring from St. Andrew’s, he opened a café, but that didn’t detract from his devotion to education. A voracious reader, he believed that reading was essential to the development and growth of our people, especially the young, and to that end, while in retirement he produced a number of short stories to stimulate their interest.

For years the very socialist Maestro Hernan ensured that the Amandala and other newspapers produced in Belize were available to the people of San Ignacio and Santa Elena.

Mr. Hernan is predeceased by his wife, Isabel Ochaeta, nee Castillo, and is survived by three children.