Dr Frank Middleton Warner Williams, who was 98 at the time of his passing, was celebrated in ‘Music & Words’ at the Promenade Gardens yesterday, prior to his remains being interred.
The celebration of his life saw attendance by dignitaries including President David Granger, Minister of Education Dr Rupert Roopnaraine and many others who had been impacted by him and his deep love for his country, Guyana.
Williams, who had roots in Buxton, East Coast Demerara, had served the medical profession for over half a century and was described by many as an intellectual who not only thrived in the medical field but had a love for the arts, politics and knowledge.
Thus tributes poured in from across countless borders to honour the life of a remarkable spirit, known to many as Uncle Frank or Papa and the man who always wore a smile.
The decision to conduct the former church organist’s celebration in the heart of the Promenade Garden was described as befitting as the MC Jocelyn Dow expounded on his life as being about flowers, fruit trees, Georgetown and Guyana. She noted too that it was close to the Medical Arts Centre, an institution he had been a founding member of.
Williams was also a former chief physician at the Georgetown Public Hospital and artist Stanley Greaves recalled him as a “pleasant and approachable person.”
Karen De Souza read a tribute on behalf of her cousin, Ulele Burnham, who remembered Uncle Frank’s presence in her life as he was the doctor of her father, former president L F S Burnham. She testified that Burnham was probably one of his most difficult patients, mentioning his visits to their residence to administer treatment and advice to her father, who was unwilling to listen to the counsel of the good doctor on matters concerning the care of his health. Nevertheless, the friendship had great trust.
The tribute also made reference to Andaiye’s political opposition to her father’s government, which created tension in the already complicated patient-doctor relationship and the sadness the impasse created, which came to an end in the context of the turbulent political climate of the late 70s and early 80s. Despite this, she wrote, she never forgot his kindness, laughter or heard a critical word from her parents because he was held in high regard.
Roopnaraine fought back tears as he relived the memories of many afternoons in his young adulthood visiting Williams at his home in Cove and John.
He spoke of Williams’s choice in naming the hospital Medical Arts which truly embodied his practise of caring for his patients as an art.
He recalled, too, troubled times when the late Dr Walter Rodney, Bonita Harris, Andaiye and others would meet at his home for music conversation and companionship.
Roopnaraine said, “His generosity, humanity and extra sense of culture… I think that with more Frank Williamses in the world we would not, Mr President, have a need for a Ministry of Social Cohesion because he generated around himself people who met as people.”
Dr Nigel Harris in his ‘Goodbye Gentle Giant’ tribute, said Williams was his inspiration for choosing the medical field. He was the “doctor of doctoring… caring gifted human being that I could not find any matching him,” he said.
Williams was a founding member of the Theatre Guild in 1957 and will be honoured next year at the Guild for the enormous contribution he has made in the area of arts.
He leaves two children, Andaiye and Abyssinian Carto.
