MALVERN, St Elizabeth

Scores of relatives, friends and admirers braved wet, foul weather to say a final farewell to former mayor of Black River, Bolivar Sylvern (Cyl) Hendriks, in a thanksgiving service at the Bethlehem Moravian Church in Malvern on Saturday.

Hendriks, who represented the Peoples National Party (PNP) as parish councilor for the Malvern Division from 1960 to ’69 and as Mayor of Black River and chairman of the St Elizabeth Parish Council from ’66 to ’69, died at his home in Elgin, just outside Malvern on October 22, following a long illness. He was 84.

He was remembered as a generous, selfless man who placed community first.

Derrick Hendriks, himself a former PNP councillor for the Malvern Division, told the gathering that his cousin, Cyl, and his colleague councillors of nearly half a century ago had set high standards for political representation at the local level.

“Whatever Cyl wanted (for the community) he would press for it and he would not stop until he got it,” he said.

Similar sentiments came from former Mayor of Black River and current Member of Parliament for SE St Elizabeth Frank Witter (JLP) and former Member of Parliament for the same constituency, Len Blake (PNP).

Eulogist Dr Randolph Watson described Cyl Hendriks as a “community man” who “in his own unassuming manner was a friend of the helpless.”

In his sermon, the Reverend Devon Anglin assured his listeners that death is not the end of life. “Death brings relief to physical pain and suffering, but it also opens the door to the joys of eternity,” said Anglin.

Hendriks is survived by wife Enid and son Howard.