Flowers and a portrait of Ingrid Andrade-Gooden adorn the altar inside the Webster Memorial Church in Kingston yesterday at a thanksgiving service for her life. Andrade-Gooden, who worked at the National Housing Development Corporation, was found dead in mangroves along the Norman Manley Highway on November 8. Police said she died from strangulation. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

THERE was no coffin or urn containing Ingrid Andrade-Gooden's remains yesterday.

Only flowers and strategically-placed portraits of the 36-year-old former senior marketing officer of the National Housing Development Corporation (NHDC) adorned the Webster Memorial Church, where hundreds of mourners from all walks of life filled the pews to celebrate her life in a tear-jerking ceremony.

Among those seated in the front row were Andrade-Gooden's 11 year-old son, Kyle, and 7 year-old daughter, Shannon. The two children looked on grimly as several persons paid tribute to their mother.

Andrade-Gooden, whose body was found in mangroves along the Norman Manley Highway on November 8, was remembered as a wonderful human being of "unmistakable dignity" by those whose lives she touched.

"There are times when words are not sufficient in trying to explain the realities of life and faith in the midst of tragic death," said Reverend Norbert Stephens, who delivered the sermon.

The tributes to Andrade-Gooden came in the form of songs and tear-jerking speeches from close friends.

A group of students from the Saints Peter and Paul Preparatory School performed the Bob Marley classic, Three Little Birds. The youngsters' voices appeared to reach out to Andrade-Gooden's two young children as they cooed the lines, 'don't worry, about a thing, 'cause every little thing's gonna be all right.'

The NHDC combined choir also paid tribute to their slain colleague through music, while several friends recalled fond memories.

An autopsy conducted on Andrade-Gooden's body concluded that she died by strangulation.

Homicide detectives recently arrested and charged her husband, Paul Gooden, after they said they found blood and other evidence in the couple's Kingston 8 apartment and in Gooden's Toyota Corolla motorcar.

Andrade-Gooden was reported missing two days before her body was found by a passerby.

Last Friday, Gooden was ordered remanded in custody until next Friday when a preliminary hearing will be held into the matter.

Ingrid Gaye Andrade-Gooden was born February 3,1967 in the Nuttall Hospital to parents Glen and Ruby. She was the elder of two sisters. She attended the Immaculate Conception High School before entering the University of the West Indies where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in marketing. She later returned to the classroom and read for a diploma in the same field.

Andrade-Gooden was employed as a sales and marketing officer to the NHDC in 1994, and was promoted to the post of senior marketing officer soon thereafter.

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