Long-time Bourda Market vendor, Compton Narine was yesterday cremated following his passing on Easter Sunday.
Narine who was 75 at the time he passed on was a well-known importer of pickled meat and plied his trade for a number of decades.
At the time of his death, Narine resided at his Crown and New Garden streets residence.
Narine died at the Balwant Singh Hospital on April 17th following a brief illness.
Daughter of the deceased, Ravina Narine said that her father fell ill about a month ago and was admitted to the hospital. He returned home afterwards but was admitted again on April 8th where he remained until his death.
Ravina said it was not diagnosed what the man was ill from but noted that her father complained of back aches. She said that prior to the man’s second admission to the hospital, while he was at home, he suffered additional complications.
Narine’s experience in business, she said, began back when he was still a boy assisting his parents. His mother, she shared, was a vendor at the La Penitence Market.
“He always said he started his business before Bourda Market had a roof,” she fondly recalled.
The deceased was described as a hard worker who laboured from Sunday to Sunday. The woman recalled that about two years ago, her father had to undergo a medical operation but by the following day he was back at work.
She added that while her mother, Sandra Narine, took up the business during the time her father was ill, his love for work and his customers saw him doing transactions on his phone from his bed at home.
“My dad was a very humble man. He always recognized God for his success. He would always say that whatever he have, God gave it to him. He was a remarkable person. He even knew his 15 times table, and always had a book and a pen in his hand. He was always about work and family. What I admired about him was that he was an open person. Despite coming from another generation, he was open to what our generation was concerned about. My dad was Hindu, yet, when my brother and I decided to convert to Christianity while we were still attending school, he never tried to stop us,” Ravina said.
Ravina went on to say, that when she thinks of the late vendor she remembers him as someone who cared about her safety and well-being above anything else.
“When I started taking the minibus to and from school and would get home in the afternoons, before he ask ‘how school was’ or ‘how my exam was’, he would ask, how I made it to cross the road. That was my father….”
The deceased was also remembered as someone who was always cheerful and courteous and who loved helping the less fortunate especially on “Charity Day” said to be honoured every Friday at Bourda Market.
Besides selling pickled meat, Narine also sold groceries.
He is survived by his wife and five children.
He was cremated at the Good Hope Crematorium.
