The principal of Methodist School, Dankuni, Denzil John, passed away on Monday night.

He was hospitalised after testing positive for Covid-19.

John, 51, is survived by his wife and two children.

He had taken over as the principal of the school in 2019 from Raja McGee, the principal of Calcutta Boys’ School, after serving as the vice-principal of St Thomas’ School in Kidderpore for a few years.

“It is a huge loss not just for the school but also the church. He was with us for a short span of time but during this period we saw he was an able administrator. He wanted to do many things for the school and it will be difficult to find a replacement for him,” said Reverend Kamalaksha Sardar, the secretary of the founder body of the school, Calcutta Christain Schools Society.

Methodist School, Dankuni, is one of the schools under the Society.

“He was in the hospital for about a month on oxygen support. He passed away at 11.30pm on Monday,” said McGee, the principal of the Calcutta Boys’ School, also under the Society.

John worked in places like Nainital and Patna before coming to the city.

For about a year of his tenure in the school, on-campus classes were held. Classes had to be shifted to the online mode in March 2020 following the outbreak of Covid-19.