A thanksgiving service for the life of journalist Lovelette Brooks will be held next Saturday, April 18 at Mona Baptist Church in Kingston, staring at 1:00 pm.

Brooks died last Tuesday after a long battle with cancer.

Last week, the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) expressed its sincere regret at her untimely passing and extended condolence to her family and friends.

“Lovelette was a valued colleague whose loss is now reverberating throughout the fraternity,” PAJ President Dionne Jackson Miller said in a statement.

“Throughout her career she covered and wrote on a wide range of issues, always exhibiting solid journalism work and excellent writing.

“She was also a long-time member of the Press Association of Jamaica,” Jackson Miller said.

Brooks was employed to the Office of the Prime Minister at the time of her passing, having gone there after serving as news editor of the Sunday Gleaner.

Her passing shocked the Jamaica Observer news room where she worked from July 12, 2000 to September 8, 2005, first as a reporter, then All Woman editor before going on to become lifestyle/features editor.

Before joining the Observer, Brooks worked at Environmental Solutions Limited.

“Lovelette was one of those bubbly personalities that is needed in the high-stress environment that characterises news rooms,” said Observer Executive Editor – Publications Vernon Davidson. “I remember her for her journalistic drive, her ability to capture stories from varying angles and her ability to work and deliver under tremendous pressure.

“Although she had left the Observer, she stayed in touch, calling to commend us when she thought we did good work, and to offer suggestions when she thought we could have done better. That kind of feedback is invaluable to us in this profession.

“The Observer expresses condolence to her family and friends,” Davidson said.

Observer Editor-at-Large HG Helps described Brooks as one of the “special” journalists with whom he came in contact.

“She was always pleasant, posseced an eye for news of every kind and was the kind of individual that you wanted to be around you most of the time.

“Lovelette’s smile alone would cheer you up on any gloomy day. It was public knowledge that she was ill, but news of her death had me montionless for several minutes… and suddenly it all felt like when I lost my mother five months ago.”

Observer Associate Editor – News Arlene Martin Wilkins remembered Brooks as “a cheerful soul with a calm demeanour that not only reassured, but was transmitted to the people around her”.

Martin-Wilkins recalled that Brooks was her supervisor in her early years on the Observer Lifestyle Desk and described her as “a vivacious character, who perfected the art of disagreeing with much diplomacy”.

“Even now, her sudden exit seems unreal, and shows us how this world can be so cruel at times. Rest well, colleague,” added Martin-Wilkins

Pete Sankey, the Observer’s senior associate editor, said Brooks’ charming personality and the passion she displayed for her job as Lifestyle/All Woman editor at the Observer would always be remembered.

“We sat beside each other at the Observer’s first home on Fagan Avenue in Kingston 8, where we developed a good professional relationship,” Sankey said.

“The bond we developed continued when our newspaper moved to its new home on Beechwood Avenue in Kingston 5. “Lovelette loved to laugh and to make others happy, and always had a good joke to share.

“Editors and reporters usually share snacks, and myself and Lovelette were no exception. I remembered one day she asked me for pain killers and when I took two out of my bag and gave them to her she said: ‘Sankeyp (part of my email address), I know you have a supermarket, but I didn’t know you have a pharmacy, too.’

Of course, I had to laugh.

“I was pained when I heard of her illness, and was hoping that she would cling on. But God knows best.

“Tears came to my eyes when colleague Vernon Davidson called and told me he had bad news about Lovelette. It wasn’t the news I expected at the start of the day.

“You will be missed, Lovelette, but rest in peace, my sister,” Sankey said.