A memorial service will be held for former principal of Gilbert Institute Gervase Marson this Saturday.Mr Marson passed away on December 14 at the age of 90.The former principal came to Bermuda from England in 1954 with his wife Elsie, who goes by the nickname Rick.He began working at the school as a teacher for £16 a week before becoming the principal in the 1960s.He obtained a masters degree from the University of Victoria in 1972.“His thesis was in reading disabilities,” his wife of 66 years said. “It was something that always interested him. When he taught at Gilbert there were children there who had reading disabilities and he took them under his wing. There were also a lot of Portuguese children who did not speak English and he would have to teach them how to read.“When he came back from university he went into the Ministry of Education and was responsible for implementing reading programmes in schools across the Island.”During his time at the Ministry he hired reading specialists for all the public school and is credited with improving education for dyslexic children in Bermuda.His son, artist Christopher Marson, said his father was drawn to children with disabilities because he was a fixer.“He really believed in kids' potential, and it was a very deep rooted belief, and he did everything he could to bring out their potential,” he said.“He believed reading disabilities were a handicap that could be fixed, that you could learn to read.“Even before he went to the University of Victoria he worked with kids. There was one boy who couldn't read and my father talked and talked and talked with him. He learned that the boy liked blueprints for some reason, so he went out and bought blueprints of machines, of buildings, and the boy would read those.”During the period his father was a principal there was more autonomy from the Ministry of Education and he used that to implement cross-circular initiatives, his son said.“One year the whole school focused on the environment, students would record what they saw in the ocean. They would use maths for the project and each class was in charge of a garden behind the school,” he said. “He did what he could to make education exciting for the students and teachers.”Former Ministry official Norma Astwood recalled her memories of Mr Marson on The Royal Gazette's Legacy guestbook.“Gerv and I shared many professional tasks at the Department and I remember him as a good team member who was always willing to give of his best and work in the best interests of the children we tried to help,” she wrote.“Fond memories of the way both of you shared a marriage stand out as exemplary to all of us who knew you as a couple.”Before coming to Bermuda Mr Marson was a paratrooper and was deployed to North Africa, Italy, Malta and Sicily. In 1945 Mr Marson was posted to Norway and then to Palestine.After leaving the army Mr Marson's love for travel continued.“He always said he had three aims in life; to visit the Arctic, to go down the Amazon and to climb Mount Everest,” his wife said. “He didn't make the last one.”In addition to his wife and son, his daughter-in-law Marlene Jantzen and granddaughter Candace Jantzen-Marson survive Mr Marson.The memorial service will take place at the Reefs Hotel on Saturday from 3pm until 5pm. Colours should be worn and donations in Mr Marson's memory can be made to the Alzheimer's Family Support Group or Bermuda Audubon Society.