IN death, as in life, Renford Archibald Shirley, the Mico College legend, was hailed yesterday as a kind man, an optimist and a strategist who truly cared for his students, large numbers of whom came to pay final respects to him at his funeral service in the inner-city church he served as rector’s warden.

It was those characteristics that brought the hundreds of mourners – family members, colleagues, friends and well-wishers – who packed and overflowed the St Matthew’s Anglican Church and the adjoining tent, fed by closed-circuit television, on a humid Saturday afternoon in Allman Town, St Andrew.

Education, Youth and Culture Minister Maxine Henry-Wilson remembered that Shirley had “invariably adopted an inimitable leadership style” and praised him for his fierce protection of the teaching service in the years that he served Mico College.

Shirley, a Justice of the Peace, Lay Magistrate and retired Principal of Mico College, died March 2, two days after his 78th birthday.

His body lay in a dark redwood coffin with ornamental carvings on the sides. A large bouquet of yellow and white flowers and gold tapestry with the emblem and motto of the Mico College lay atop his casket.

Shirley’s long history with Mico College began in 1949 as one of 41 students. Professor CBO Clarke was one of his classmates and recalled how Shirley would share his detailed lecture notes with other students.

Clarke triggered laughter in the otherwise sombre church as he recounted an instance in Massachusetts when he was driven to threaten to put Shirley out of his car, if he did not stop arguing with him.

“You either loved him or hated him,” said Clarke.

Shirley would return to Mico College in 1967 and remain 36 years in the varying positions of lecturer, senior lecturer, vice-principal and principal.

Shirley was also the rector’s warden at St Matthew’s for two years and the rector, Reverend Whitson Williams, described him as a good friend whom he will miss “very, very much”.

In the remembrance, Shirley’s son, Professor Gordon Shirley, Jamaica’s ambassador to the United States, admitted there were occasional conflicts in the relationship between him and his father. But as he grew older and also become a father, going on to hold leadership positions himself, the younger Shirley said he better understood why his father was the way he was.

“In time, he once again became my best friend,” said Shirley, his voice breaking. Henry-Wilson, in her tribute, added that the departed educator had been known for denouncing some potential teachers who were deemed “not fit to teach people’s children”. But that stern attitude was tempered with kindness as Shirley would assist those people in finding jobs in the private sector, she said.

The education minister further described him as an optimist and a strategist who truly cared for his students. She recalled how he once scoured the hills of Portland to find yams to feed his charges at Mico, saying they “couldn’t learn pon hungry belly.”

Shirley was also renowned for keeping the doors of Mico college open during the 1980s and feeding his students three meals per day on a low budget, while other teacher training colleges were shutting their doors.

Also paying tribute, Professor Errol Miller, a colleague of Shirley’s, said he was highly respected in the teaching community, noting that he had won numerous teaching awards including The Mico Millennium Award and The Jamaica Teachers’ Association Roll of Honour Award.

“Farewell to a friend, a brother, a colleague. And I say Rennie, good night. I’ll see you in the morning,” said Miller.

Fittingly, students and lecturers of the college played an integral role in the service. The Mico College Choir sang choruses and performed solos in their black and gold attire while other Mico alumni ushered people to their seats.

Shirley was to be cremated immediately after the service.