MANDEVILLE, Manchester- Many Jamaicans might remember the cover version of Leaving on a Jet Plane by a local artiste in the 1970s, which was hugely successful then.

The woman responsible for that hit, Sonia Spence, died recently and was buried at the Poughden Church of God of Prophecy in South Manchester on Saturday.

Several persons in attendance at Spence’s funeral service knew of her success with Jet Plane and numerous other covers, including Shirley Caesar’s No Charge. Several also knew of her battle with drug abuse. But no one wanted to say the latter directly.

In an interview last week, Spence’s sister, Paulette Milton said her sister had been in and out of the hospital for a while until she died from liver complications.

On Saturday, Milton said in the eulogy that Spence showed early interest in music and was the sibling who learned to play their mother’s guitar the fastest and the best.

“. And so she became a one-woman band,” Milton said, referring to her sister’s penchant for performing at functions with her guitar as the only accompaniment.

Spence was a teacher by profession but paid a lot of attention to music. After recording covers for a while, Milton said, Spence recorded three original albums, which did not do well at all. She said the producers working with her sister “did not seem astute”.

After the disappointment of those albums, Milton surmised that her sister’s music became ‘a bit fragmented’.

“She continued to do it, but not as before. She was not turning out LPs and records,” Milton said.

Milton said her sister died with a dream of performing on such shows as CVM Startime, which showcases vintage music.

Spence was remembered on Saturday as someone poised to become one of Jamaica’s greatest female singers, who never quite got past that stage.

Pastor Canute Senior, in delivering the sermon, said no one was sure of what caused Spence’s death, but said he could identify some connection ‘in drugs’.

“Many of you don’t want me to say it, Senior said, “but I have been far from soberness in the company of liquor and ganja-smoking”.

In a tribute to Spence, Oswald Burchenson, senior Manchester resident magistrate, said his dealings with Spence had taught him to be a humanitarian and to recognise society’s problems and possible solutions .

“Those people that are giving our youth drugs, how long are they going to reign over this land?” Burchenson asked.

“There is a form of slavery more vicious and heinous than our forefathers witnessed,” he said. “They were in charge of their minds. But there is a slavery that comes with all the grandeur of life,” Burchenson said, apparently referring to drug addiction.

In her tribute, Jennifer Hutchinson of the Victim Support Unit, quoted a poem Spence had written about crack cocaine in 1995.

“It’s a killer/ It will take your life away/If it gets you there is no coming back/You are a loser.”

Spence is survived by four daughters. She was 54 years old.