(Barbados Nation) Dame Olga Lopes-Seale brought hope in deeds and words to thousands of Barbadians over six decades.
On Tuesday, many of them were moved by the strains of Ronald Binge’s Elizabethan Serenade wafting through the sanctuary of St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cathedral as the charity worker’s oakwood casket was borne up the aisle. It was a sobering but soothing reminder that the voice of Yours Truly Olga was now stilled.
Hundreds turned out for the service of farewell, including Prime Minister Freundel Stuart and members of his Cabinet, diplomats and ordinary beneficiaries of her lifelong work of generosity.
Though some people were overheard expressing disappointment at the number of empty seats inside the church and under the two large tents erected outside, this in no way diminished the outpouring of love for the woman who lay serene and peaceful in death, with several mourners lingering by the casket for a final gaze while others waited patiently to sign the guest books placed at the entrance to the church.
Starcom Network CEO Vic Fernandes led the tributes to the charity worker, broadcaster par excellence, grandmother and friend.
“Her work in ministering in a tangible and measurable way to the needs of the poor, deprived, neglected and marginalised stands out above all else,” Fernandes said as he reflected on his long association with Dame Olga the “multi-talented humanitarian” who went on to make her mark and become “a Caribbean icon in the field of broadcasting”.
“Above all else she was charitable and compassionate, understanding and caring. She inspired many and gave hope to the hopeless,” Fernandes said, noting that while some compared Dame Olga to Mother Theresa of Calcutta, “our Dame’s work stands on its own and needs no comparison for evaluation”.
Fernandes’ was one of four special tributes paid to Dame Olga. Senior Caribbean broadcaster Rafiq Khan flew from Jamaica to pay tribute to the woman whose skills were honed under his leadership as head of the former Radio Demerara. He had watched her grow into the consummate broadcaster, earning her place among the icons of regional broadcasting as a Hall Of Famer in the Caribbean Broadcasting Union.
Friends for over 60 years, Khan told about the “certain chemistry” ignited between the two “as together we explored that strange jungle of radio, making our mistakes, sometimes losing our way . . . ”.
“Of all my proteges down the years, there was none more naturally gifted, none more imbued with a sense of mission, none more complete a broadcaster than Olga Lopes-Seale,” he said.
Khan related how, inspired by Olga “always sneaking in appeals [during radio programmes] for some little boy or girl who needed a pair of shoes or a meal, or a Christmas toy . . . , we fixed her by starting a fund for needy children and putting her in charge of it”.
Similarly he told of a young broadcaster “too shy to use the first person singular pronoun, always referring to herself as “yours truly” until he “saddled her with an inspirational programme and made her call it Yours Truly Olga.
But the insight of Olga, the family person, came from Dame Olga’s granddaughter Anne Bancroft-Jones. She spoke about a grandmother with a simple, unpretentious upbringing, who inspired her offspring to aim high and achieve, following her example.
In a witty tribute, broadcaster Carson Small related his association with Auntie Olga in the Rediffusion Children’s Party where he played the part of the little boy George, and also shared glimpses of the enduring friendship that developed.
Dame Olga was awarded the Barbados Service Star, the Gold Crown Of Merit and the Order Of The British Empire for her work of charity for which she was yesterday lauded by Father Clement Paul in his homily.
