BY JANICE BUDD

Associate Editor — Sunday

buddj@jamaicaobserver.com

SPLASHES of bright rainbow hues mingled with the traditional funeral shades of black and grey as family and friends packed themselves into Webster Memorial United Church in Half-Way-Tree, the St Andrew capital, to celebrate the life of Karl Norton Binger, OD, JP, two Fridays ago.

A lifetime of bringing love, joy, kindness and laughter to family and colleagues was reflected in the warm remembrances of Binger, who seemed to endear himself to everyone he met during his 64 years on Earth.

Tributes were offered by Mary Helen Reece from the Tourism Product Development Company, where Binger spent a number of years as its executive director before moving on to hold a similar post at the Nature Preservation Foundation.

He spent the last six years of his life crafting major plans to restore Hope Botanical Gardens in St Andrew to its former splendour, as pointed out in the remembrance by friend, Dr Keith Amiel.

“Karl had a goal, to leave the world better than he found it,” he said.

Vice-president of the Lay Magistrates Association of Jamaica, Hugh Perry, also offered his recollections of Binger, a former chairman.

Binger’s contribution to Jamaican performing arts was also highlighted in a tribute given by Marguerite Newland on behalf of the theatre community. He was remembered as an accomplished actor who starred in several pantomimes and classic Jamaican plays including Smile Orange and Old Story Time.

It was not surprising therefore, that the esteemed National Chorale gave hauntingly beautiful renditions of The Lord’s Prayer and Man of Sorrows.

The proceedings were also interspersed with the dulcet tones of Jamaican jazz songbird Karen Smith who delivered the moving, modern Celine Dion tune Because You Loved Me.

A mellow delivery of the classic George David Weiss’ hit, What a Wonderful World by fellow Jamaican thespian and colleague of Binger’s widow — broadcaster Dorraine Samuels-Binger — Andrew Lawrence, caused tears to glisten in mourners’ eyes.

These contributions were only surpassed by Lawrence and Smith’s powerful performance of The Prayer, which stirred those in attendance to rousing applause once the last magnificent chord was sung.

Binger’s widow and their teen daughter, Morgan, dressed in tropical, festive hues, joined Samuel-Binger’s adult children and the late executive’s older children in putting on a collective show of bravery in spite of their loss.

However, in a touching tribute printed at the back of the programme, 13-year-old Morgan identified the qualities of her father which she would most miss.

“The word ‘Father’ is more than a title,” she wrote.

“Not only was he awesome, great, and smart. The things he taught me, I will always keep in my heart… “

“There are so many things that I have to say, but they all can’t fit in one day.

“One more thing I have to do, is to say ‘Daddy, I love you’,” is how she ended her poem.

Samuels-Binger wrote her tribute to her late husband in the form of a letter, also printed in the programme.

She recounted the romance of their wedding in 1995 in the very church in which so many gathered to pay final respects to him.

“You added laughter and drama to our home, that even ordinary get-togethers turned out to be rib-tickling, belly-holding events,” she wrote.

Binger’s widow, who referred to him fondly as ‘Karlos’, ended her letter by thanking the man she described as “a true family man and absolutely wonderful person”.

“Thank you for your understanding, for your trust, for the gift of your devotion, for your love and loyalty, thank you my dear, for everything.”

She ended with a simple, “Nuff love, ‘Raine.”

A clever delivery of the message by Rev Oliver Daley was replete with symbolic references to the dance of life, as the pastor played on the fact that Binger was once a renowned dancer in local theatrical productions, and that the recessional hymn was Lord of the Dance.

Revs Gary Harriott, Byron Chambers, and Astor Carlyle were the other three officiants at the service, which was attended by several well-known members of Jamaica’s business, government, theatre and media fraternities.

Karl Binger’s ashes were carried by his stoic widow to their final resting place in Webster’s on-site colombarium.