Dear Editor,
Your newspaper did very well in recalling to our minds the lives and careers of several outstanding Guyanese who died during the past year. Please permit me to add a few names of people whom I remember fondly and who also died during 2019.
Mrs Marjorie Carr. She was a teacher with a long and distinguished career.
She was the principal of Christ Church Secondary School in Georgetown. Many young lives were touched and no doubt improved by the dedication of this lady. She was married to Bill Carr of UG fame and was buried in June 2019 in the USA.
Mr Oswald Kendall. He too was principal of Christ Church Secon-dary. He went on to a senior post in the Ministry for Education where he co-authored the broad and varied curriculum used in Guyanese schools today. Of quick wit and ready smile, he assisted many young teachers to climb the professional ladder. His students lovingly and irreverently called him, “Shaft” in a nod to the good looking, well-dressed man in the eponymous “blacksploitation” films of the 70’s. He was buried in November 2019 in the St. James the Less Churchyard, Kitty Georgetown.
Father Keith Hardless. This English Roman Catholic priest made Guyana his home.
He was parish priest at St. Teresa’s R.C. church, Campbell-ville, for several years. During that time he worked hard to develop the St. Winefride’s Primary School, Newtown. People of all faiths and none would receive a sympathetic ear and helpful hand from him. He once joked that the people of Kitty, Campbellville, Newtown, often mis-pronounced his name, “heartless” but after he underwent surgery for heart attacks they realised that he indeed had a heart. In spite of his declining health he moved on to the Mt Carmel, R.C. Church at Meadow Bank where he died. He was cremated and his ashes are in Meadow Bank, Guyana.
Edward Widmer. This son of Scranton, Pennsylvania, also made Guyana his home for many years. He too was a religious man. He came to Georgetown as a pioneer (i.e. missionary) of the Baha’I Faith. Among other endeavours he attended UG, worked with Lady Rose (wife of Sir David) at the skin clinic, helping lepers, became a community development officer on the East Bank Demerara and then in the North West. Finally, he opened his own business — the Professional Guard Service. All the while he served the Baha’I faith with the utmost dedication. He was a great support to his wife, Ellen, who worked in physiotherapy at the Georgetown Hospital and later taught biology at UG. She also taught literature at the School of the Nations, New Amsterdam. Their three children grew up at their home in Sparendaam, East Coast Deme-rara. He moved to the USA where he served at the Chicago office of the United Nations. He kept up a lively and informative, daily Internet blog in which he frequently mentioned his life and work in Guyana. He died in October 2019 after experiencing a major stroke.
Now that they have gone to “the other kingdom” let us remember them with affection and pray that many more will rise up to emulate them and, like them, render service to the world of humanity.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
