Junior Vice-President of the Athletic Association of Guyana (AAG), Ken Elexey was laid to rest yesterday amidst glowing tributes from the organisations he served until his death last Saturday morning.
The funeral service for Elexey, 49, was held at the New Life Full Gopsel Fellowship church in Patentia, West Bank Demerara. A brief viewing was held at the Wales Community Centre (WCC) ground before the service.
“He walked out of here alive and now he comes back dead,” Elexey’s wife, Yolan Elexey said in tears at the WCC while viewing the body of the AAG junior vice-president, who was also Wales Estate Welfare Officer and Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) ground manager.
The AAG lauded Elexey yesterday for the leadership he displayed with national track and field teams locally and internationally. Assistant secretary/treasurer of the AAG, Shirley Hooper read the tribute at the funeral service.
“Ken was an ardent sports lover, he touched many lives…he grew in his ability to administrate by attending many seminars and accompanying many teams locally and internationally,” the AAG tribute said.
Elexey was manager of the Guyana athletics team that represented Guyana at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia last year. He also managed several other teams that represented Guyana at competitions around the Caribbean.
“Being first a Mason, Ken carved his life in stone, his loss is our loss, we can only hope that the things he lived for remain with us,” Hooper continued in the AAG tribute.
President of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), K. Juman Yassin, also in attendance at the funeral service, told Stabroek Sport that he recalled Elexey as a decent character and good sport administrator.
“I remember him (Ken Elexey) as [a] very decent fellow, he was part of the Melbourne team and performed his duties carefully, he was a good administrator,” the GOA president, who was also on the Melbourne team, said of Elexey.
Apart from service to local athletics, Elexey was also an ardent cricket administrator in the department of venues and grounds. He worked with the Uitvlugt Community Centre (UCC) ground before he was transferred to the Wales Community Centre (WCC).
President of the GCB, Chetram Singh said that Elexey was primarily responsible for UCC’s hosting of its inaugural first class cricket match in 1996 when he committed himself to making the ground ready for the match.
“I could remember in 1996 when the GCB brought its first regional first class match to West Demerara, Ken (Elexey) assured us that once he was there, everything will be in place for the match. Rest assured it was as he said,” Singh said in the GCB tribute.
According to Singh, cricket moved to the Wales community when Elexey was transferred to that community. Most recently, the Wales community was able to witness a match at the ground in the Trinidad Cement Limited regional under-19 tournament last summer. Assistant Personnel Manager of Wales Estate, Pastor Dexter Williams described Elexey as a “fun loving, jovial person” who was an “asset” to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) and the sports associations to which he was affiliated.
The management and staff of the Uitvlugt Estate also expressed condolences to Elexey’s family and friends in a tribute. “His demise has left a vacuum at the West Demerara Estate,” the tribute read.
Personnel Manager of Uitvlugt Estate, Michael Carter read the Uitvlugt tribute. “We must all remember that life and death are two sides of the same coin,” an articulate Carter said in conclusion.
The Guysuco Training School was also given the opportunity to offer some remarks in “celebration of the life” of Elexey. Student Welfare Officer, Levi Nedd sang Frank Sinatra’s classic “My Way” at the service.
Elexey was also the president of the now neglected West Demerara Football Association and an executive on the Guyana Football Federation (GFF). He was laid to rest at the Stewartville Cemetery.
