GLORIA Johnson had never met Professor Rex Nettleford.

But the elderly woman would not let yesterday pass without saying farewell to the University of the West Indies (UWI) vice chancellor emeritus, simply because she “heard he was a good man”.

Johnson, who journeyed from Portmore, St Catherine, had to be directed to the UWI Chapel in Kingston — where the thanksgiving service was being held for the late professor — by someone she met on the bus.

“I don’t know him personally. But my daughter used to dance with him. From what I know he is a pleasant person who doesn’t pass you anywhere without saying ‘howdy do’,” Johnson said.

Her sentiments were shared by scores of other persons who turned up at the Mona chapel yesterday.

For Heather McGrath, it was her admiration of Nettleford’s brilliance that brought her to the chapel.

“I really, really admire him for his brilliance. He appeared to be humble, regardless of his accolades, and I appreciate that,” McGrath said.

One full-bodied, bleached-face woman — whose extra-short black-and-white dress drew the attention of many — confessed that she was there because he taught her dance at the Holy Trinity Primary School in the ’60s. Since then, she has had no further association.

“He taught me dance back then,” she said. “That, plus I hear that he was a good man.”

The chapel, which accommodates some 600 persons, was filled to capacity. Among the mourners were Prime Minister Bruce Golding and wife Lorna, Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller and husband Errald, former prime ministers PJ Patterson and Edward Seaga as well other local and overseas dignitaries, politicians, educators, cultural icons and relatives of the late professor.

Two large, air-conditioned white tents draped in red and blue and equipped with big screens and speaker boxes at strategic points, allowed those who could not be accommodated in the chapel to participate in the service.

With the exception of one person complaining about a “stiff neck”, the medical tent erected to the left of the chapel remained empty.

However, it was the media who felt cheated. After being presented with press passes, journalists were blocked from entering the chapel. Crews from television and radio stations had to do broadcast from outside, where possible, or aborted their efforts in some cases. While there was a media tent, this was soon packed with well-wishers, and reporters had to rely on the television screens and sound systems to know what was happening inside the chapel.

“This is really a very private, public affair,” one observer remarked.

That aside, others would have stopped at nothing to be a part of the function, especially those who said Nettleford impacted directly on their lives.

“He was my supervisor on my MPhil and PhD in cultural studies,” Alice Berry-Gayle told the Observer.

“He was phenomenal, down to earth and people who knew the other side of him would know him as shy, humble and very rooted,” she added. “No matter what he said or did, the fruit of our culture came out in that.”

“I haven’t missed anything with his passing because he prepared me well,” she said proudly. “He was not a superficial person and so we connected spiritually.”

Lois Osbourne said she first met Nettleford in 1970 when he was guest speaker at a graduation ceremony at the Moneague Teacher’s College. She was 10.

“He believed in the culture that everybody was running away from,” she reminisced.

“When I met him he told me I was a beautiful black girl and that I should accept myself the way I am. My sisters, who were light-skinned, used to beat up on me and tell me they would get further in life because they were brown. But he taught me to accept myself and gave me self-confidence,” she said. “I am here today because I want to celebrate his life. Jamaica has lost the brightest person this side of the Caribbean, and I doubt there is anyone who can replace him.”

As the service ended two hours later, the procession exited slowly from the chapel and tents. The urn with Nettleford’s remains was taken by the Jamaica Constabulary Force Bearer party to the university’s registrar’s office.

As the crowd gathered outside the chapel, persons got the opportunity to meet and hear stories of Nettleford as a boy from his

sister Daphne Riley who resides in England.