A former principal of St Xavier's School, Hazaribagh, Father B. Donnelly, died on Thursday afternoon at Sitagarha because of age-related ailments. He was 83.

Present principal Father Rosner Xalxo said Donnelly was keeping unwell for quite sometime following a bypass surgery and was not able to breathe properly.

He remembered him as a good administrator and a polite man during whose tenure the school introduced the computer course.

According to records, Father Donnelly joined the school in January 1958after his arrival from his native place New Zealand.

He spent three years as a teacher and a dormitory prefect. He lived in Ranchi for two years during which he studied Hindi and graduated in political science from St Xavier's College .He became the principal of the school in January 1985 and worked till 1993.

He also worked for six years (1974-1980) as a regional superior of the Hazaribagh Jesuit Society.

Sources said Father Donnelly ushered in the computer age at St Xavier's School. He got a computer installed in the office, probably the first school in the town to have one in the 1990s. To facilitate computer studies for students of both St Xavier's School and St Robert's School, which was in the same campus, he made some alterations in the building and set up the Father John Moore Computer Centre.

Father Donnelly liked to revive contacts with the former students of the school. His active involvement led to the rebirth of the Hazaribagh Old Xaverians Association (HOXA) under the leadership of Bikram Sen, a well-known advocate of the town.

A group of HOXAN doctors, including Sandeep Mukherjee and Lalit Jain, formed a medical team and set up a clinic in the Sultana areain 1991 that provided free treatment. Later, the focus of this voluntary service shifted to Bisheshwar Memorial Hospital with the co-operation of some of the old boys of the school in the form of a psychiatric clinic served by doctors of the Central Institute of Psychiatry, Ranchi. The clinic now functions from the school campus on the first Wednesday of each month.

During his tenure as the principal, Donnelly's amicable nature made him popular among the school staff and students.

Condolence messages started to flood the website maintained by the former students of St Xavier's soon after Donelly's death. A former Xaverian recalled him as an excellent english and moral science teacher.

Mohammad Naushad Jaffer, a computer teacher who was appointed by the Father, wrote, "Miss you not because you appointed me as a staff of the Xavier's family but because I have learnt a lot from you by just observing you. Very few people are kind-hearted and caring as well as an able administrator like you. May your soul rest in peace."

After a mass prayer, Donnelly's body was buried at Sitagarha cemetery on Friday afternoon.

Before that, the former students and members of the Hazaribagh Jesuit Society paid their last respects.

Xalxo said the school would always remember him for his contribution.