January 1, 2009, Kaieteur News, Several prominent Guyanese died in eventful leap year,

January 1, 2009, Kaieteur News, Several prominent Guyanese died in eventful leap year,

Leap years may not necessarily bring ill fortune, but the deaths of several prominent Guyanese in 2008 almost seemed to give this belief some credence.

On April 25, the nation said goodbye to writer, broadcaster and folklorist Wordsworth Mc Andrew, who passed away at the East Orange General Hospital, East Orange, New Jersey.
He was 72.

Wordsworth McAndrew was born in 1936 and grew up in Cummingsburg and Newtown, Kitty.
He attended Christ Church Primary School and Queen’s College.

Wordsworth was one of the most influential folklorists in Guyanese history and had been an unyielding advocate for the collection, preservation and celebration of Guyanese folk life.
One could say that lightning struck twice in May.

That month, the People’s National Congress lost one of its stalwarts, when Neville James Bissember passed away on May 3, at the age of 80.

Neville Bissember

Bissember, who was born in Corentyne, Berbice, grew up in Whim and attended Berbice High School from where he moved on to study law in England. He served in the Health, Housing, Information and Trade ministries in the PNC government that came into office in December 1964.

He also served as former Deputy Prime Minister in the PNC government of the 1960s and as Leader of the House.

 

During this period, Bissember attended two of the three constitutional conferences in London, and had been the PNC representative on the legal committee of the conference which drafted Guyana’s independence constitution.

Also on May 3, Former Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) head, Joseph O'Lall, 66, died at the Georgetown Public Hospital following a brief period of illness.

Joseph O'Lall

O'Lall had been diagnosed with an advanced stage of leukaemia and at the time of his death was receiving treatment at the medical institution for the condition.

O'Lall and Chairman of the Board of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Ronald Alli were sacked by President Bharrat Jagdeo over the alleged bungling of procurement arrangements for fuel supplies to the power company.

On June 23, Guyana's first president, Raymond Arthur Chung, OE, died at his Bel Air Springs home from multiple medical complications.

Arthur Chung

He was 90 years old.

The former President was the country’s first Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Joint Services.
Chung was born in January 1916 at Windsor Forest, West Coast Demerara, and had his early education at Windsor Forest and Blankenburg and his secondary education at Modern High School.

He began his working career as an apprentice surveyor and was later a sworn land surveyor. In the early 1940s he entered the Middle Temple of London, England and qualified in 1947. He returned to Guyana in 1948. In 1953, he was appointed an acting magistrate. In 1954, he was appointed a magistrate and in 1960, he became a senior magistrate. He subsequently served as Registrar of Deeds and of the Supreme Court, then a puisne judge and finally a judge in the Appeal Court in 1963.

Comic strip lovers looked forward to his characters ‘Little Soap’, ‘Pone’ and ‘Edward Riley.’
But on October 2, Guyana’s foremost cartoonist Hawley Harris passed away at the age of 77 from complications stemming from diabetes at the Palms nursing home.

Hawley Harris

Harris’s cartoons appeared in the Mirror, New Nation, the Guyana Chronicle and Stabroek News during the course of his career. Mr. Harris was also a recipient of the Cacique Crown of Honour.

On October 18, the media fraternity was plunged into mourning after a fatal accident at Linden claimed the life of one of their colleagues.

National Communications Network (NCN) journalist Akila Jacobs, 23, was returning from a media trip to Linden when the bus she was travelling in slammed into the back of a truck.

Akila Jacobs

Bus driver Terrence Tappin was killed instantly, while Akila succumbed as she was being transported to Georgetown.

The media fraternity also lost another stalwart in October.

On October 31, David De Caires, 70, owner and Editor in Chief of the Stabroek News, and a leading advocate of press freedom, died in Barbados. De Caries had triple bypass surgery 16 years ago.

David de Caires

Mr. De Caries, also a solicitor, founded the Stabroek News in 1986 and concentrated on journalism rather than law.

The Guyana Defence Force was not spared from tragedy, losing two prominent ranks in one day.
On December 19, the Guyana Defence Force was rocked by the news that Lieutenant Colonel Tony Ross had collapsed and died at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.

Lieutenant Colonel Tony Ross

Lieutenant Colonel Ross, 49, enlisted as a Cadet Officer on September 1, 1982 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on February 15, 1984. He obtained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel on February 1 last.
Ross completed several courses locally and overseas, and held several appointments within the army during his career.

He was found guilty of negligence earlier this year, and was docked one year’s seniority.

And a few hours later, another senior army officer, Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Lalta Narine, collapsed and died, having participated earlier that Day in the army's Soldiers' Day activities.