THOUGHTFUL, understanding, responsible, family-oriented and a disciplinarian were five memorable attributes, the five children of Carlyle Vincent Ming, could easily draw on when describing his 74 years of life, which ended a month and a day ago after he suffered from a heart attack.

At the Thanksgiving Service celebrating his life, which was held at Zion Hill Seventh Day Adventist Church located in Fairy Hill, Portland, on February 23, in a written tribute by son, Carl, Ming’s children and stepsons, Allison, Philippa, Owen, Steve, Ralston, Dwight and Evon, collectively hailed their father and stepfather for the purpose he served in their lives as children and described him as a disciplinarian.

“Today we send our dad back and I am convinced he made it, so we look forward to seeing him on the other side. He was a disciplinarian and we gave him the name ‘Fras’ because he loved to beat and would do so in a heartbeat. He would line us up and beat us one by one. The name really never meant anything to me until one day when I was in Mandeville and I listened to an interview with Sassafras — a famous champion jockey on the radio. The interviewer asked “A lot of people are concerned about the way you beat the horse. You beat him from the starting gate to the finish line. Don’t you think that’s cruelty to animals?” Carl’s written tribute, which was read by his sister Philippa, stated.

Philippa read his tribute at the service.

“His response was ‘There are two kinds of horses. A pet horse that you put in a pen and feed until the day he dies. Then there is a race horse that you put in a race and beat him until he earns everything that he eats. There were days when I was angry with my dad for beating us so much, but when I look back on the winning accomplishments of myself and my siblings, and how we survived against all odds, I appreciate every whip whistling through the air,” the tribute added.

Carl stated that his father would not want his family to mourn too long for him. His tribute stated that through faith, weeping only endures for a night and there will be a glorious day when he will reunite with his father.

Following this tribute, daughters, Philippa and Allison, delivered the eulogy.

According to Philippa, Ming was a God-fearing man who was prepared for death at 74 years old.

She said weeks prior to his passing, Ming began giving hints that he would die.

“On December 13, 2013, a day after he lost an older brother to death, he complained of feeling ill and sought medical attention. Little did we know that was the beginning of the end of his sojourn here in this life. After repeated visits to the doctor, he experienced ‘up days’ and ‘down days’, but his mottos always were, ‘Whatever is the Lord’s will’ and ‘It’s in the Lord’s hands’,” Philippa said.

“It would almost seem as though he had a premonition about his passing. He made several attempts to discuss issues in relation to what should happen if he did but no one wanted to entertain such conversation. On Friday, January 31, my sister made an appointment for him to do an electrocardiogram (ECG) in Kingston the following Monday. He never made it to the appointment,” Allison added.

Ming woke up before sunrise on February 1 complaining of chest pains. After his wife Lucia got him medical attention, he died.

Ming was born to Septimus and Ruth Ming in Sherwood Forest, Portland, on June 23, 1939.

His death leaves a void in the lives of his widow, Lucia, his children, four brothers and five sisters.

  — Ainsworth Morris