Family and friends said farewell to the late Dr. Keshav ‘Bud’ Mangal, who was remembered yesterday as a man larger than life.
Mangal, who was longest-serving commissioner of the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom), died last Friday of kidney failure. He was 78.
Many persons from all walks of life came to pay tributes and offer support to his children, Lars, Mike, Jan and Dr. Tanya Mangal-Wiik in their time of grief.
The tributes were delivered at the Memorial Gardens Funeral Home and Crematorium, at Le Repentir. Afterward, there was a private cremation ceremony at the same location.
Among those who offered their condolences were former president Donald Ramotar, former Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack, retired Major General Joe Singh and attorney Nigel Hughes.
The children of his friends recalled his hospitality and the fact that they did not come to know his name was Keshav Mangal until later in life. They knew him as “Buddy”—a name he was known by to many.
“Because he was a buddy to everyone and was liked by everyone,” Senior Counsel Moen McDoom, who served with Mangal on the elections commission, explained.
McDoom regaled the gathering with the tale of their blossoming friendship over a period of over 40 years. It started with a fishing trip to Rockstone and they shared many hours on the tennis court.
Mangal’s son, Lars, who delivered the eulogy, said his father completed his secondary education at Queen’s College, then he left to study to become a doctor at Edinburgh, In the United Kingdom. There, he met and married Jonna, a young woman studying to be a nurse.
After having their first child, they returned to Guyana in the 1960s, where Mangal finished his internship at the public hospital and later branched off into private practice. By the 1970s, he had started work with Medical Practitioners’ Centre on Carmichael Street, Georgetown.
He was the eldest boy of 12 siblings. Lars remembered his father as a man “committed to doing right.” He was a brother to many beyond the biological markings of siblings, his son said.
Chair of the programme Stanley Ming added that Mangal was not caught up in material things.
Ramotar said he would remember Mangal as a man passionate about justice and fairness. Although Mangal was never a member of the PPP, he said the party always had confidence in his representation at Gecom because of his integrity and his sense of justice.
“His contribution to Gecom was enormous,” he said, calling it not just a contribution to the PPP but a contribution to the country and “a major contribution to bringing back democracy to Guyana in 1992.”
A display of photos chronicling Mangal’s life made it clear that he had a connection with nature and a passion for fishing. Numerous photos featured him flashing a winsome smile.
