DR EM Claire Gayle, centenarian and retired long-serving principal of Ardenne High School, was last Saturday remembered as a professional educator whose commitment to education and women’s ministry of the Church of God was boundless.

Dr Gayle died on May 8, four days before she would have celebrated her 101st birthday.

At a thanksgiving service celebrating her life, which was held at the Auditorium of Ardenne High, Reverend Dr Lenworth Anglin, executive chairman of the Church of God in Jamaica, remembered the inspirational educator as a true example of a follower of Jesus Christ.

“In her regular life, she was committed to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Miss Gayle or Sister Gayle was a true example of a follower of Jesus Christ. She was a true ambassador, a true Christian. Based on her virtues and qualities of her life when compared to the scriptures, she can be said to be a born-again Christian,” Anglin said.

“She was totally different; specially different. Her strength was not only to serve in education, but the Church of God in Jamaica. Time will not allow us to mention all the communities she has touched,” he added.

Muriel Davidson, president of the Women of the Church of God in Jamaica, was also full of praise for the selfless life lived by Gayle.

“It is with mixed joy that I stand to offer tribute to our president emeritus. She was always shaping lives for the glory of God. She gave service to the Church and was there at the start of the Women’s Missionary Society. Dr Gayle was a teacher, sister and friend. She was a mother of hundreds of children, although she did not bear a child,” she said.

Esther Tyson, past principal of Ardenne High School between 2000 and 2011, conducted a rendition of the song It Is Well With My Soul in tribute, alongside Rudolph Gayle Junior, nephew of the deceased, who sang I Must Have The Saviour With Me and the Olson Memorial Choir who sang Jesus Joy of Man’s Desiring.

Other tributes were offered by the Ardenne High School’s Music Club, the Church of God Girls Home and Grace Gordon of the Ardenne Alumni.

Gayle was herself a past student of Ardenne High. Immediately after graduating, she begun her teaching career at the institution in 1931 and continued to teach for the fnext 15 years. She was later appointed deputy headmistress on September 1, 1964, and was appointed the third principal in 1969 a capacity in which she served for a decade.

Gayle is credited with devoting her life to the development of Ardenne High and the Church of God of Jamaica. Some mourners told Life Tributes that one of her greatest sources of pride was the fact that she designed the school’s crest and coined the school’s motto.

Others said she loved explaining the meaning of the crest, with the cross being the symbol that speaks of Christ, the torch representing learning and the open door, and steps signalling the opportunity to not only achieve academic, but spiritual knowledge.

Dr Gayle was a lover of the arts. For that reason, under her tenure as principal, Ardenne High had a vibrant and successful drama programme. Under her leadership, additional infrastructure, such as the school’s library and sixth form classrooms, were added to the school to facilitate the burgeoning school population and to enhance its programme offerings.

Her interment followed the service at Meadowrest Memorial Gardens.