The thanksgiving service to celebrate his life was held recently at the Eastwood Park New Testament Church.

Clarke’s, son, Carl in his remembrance spoke of his love for a man who he calls his champion, his hero, and his general. He told mourners of his father’s love for his children, his wife, and God. He remembered precious family time spent with his parents and siblings. According to Carl, family time was very important to his father.

“My father loved God. He would walk, talk, sleep, and eat Jesus. This meant family prayer time every morning between 5:00 and 5:30 am. Everyone had to be a part of this whether they liked it or not.”

He lightened the mood of mourners by telling the story of how his parents met. According to him, his father told God that he was responsible for finding him a partner. One day he went to the field and heard the name Carmen being called. It was as if the wind was calling the name. Denton Clarke thought nothing of it at the time until he met the beautiful Carmen who later became his wife. It was after meeting her that he realised that it was God shouting the name Carmen.

In his tribute, first vice-president of the Sydenham Gardens Community Association, Arnald William applauded the late Denton Clarke for his wisdom and constant encouragement when needed. Williams said that Clarke would oftentimes provide well-needed suggestions and solutions to community problems.

The allotted time given for open tributes was not enough to facilitate the number of relatives and friends who wanted to say something about the man they called Brother Denny. Those who got a chance spoke highly of him, while others offered rich musical tributes.

According to Denton Clarke’s children he was the type of person who would share his home and car with family and community members. There was always someone living with the family, even when it seemed as if there was no more room to fit another person. It might be a family member, a friend, or a church member, he would always open his doors to those in need.

According to Clarke’s children, “on a typical school morning, all of us would be packed tightly in the vehicle, and Daddy would stop to pick up as many neighbours as he could. As children, we always wondered why he had to pick up the ‘big’ ones and not the ‘skinny’ ones as we were feeling the squeeze in the back of the car”.

They spoke of their father’s unique way of communicating with them. “If any of us would come to him with a line of argument that made no sense to him, he would not hesitate to say, ‘Yuh head full of wind.’ Also, when he wanted someone to turn on the TV to watch the news, he would say, “Turn on di Babylon box mek a hear what di liyad dem have to say today.”

The highlight of the thanksgiving service was when Denton Clarke’s wife, Carmen, joined her children after the reading of the eulogy to sing one last song to her husband of 47 years. This was well received by mourners.

Rev Keith Williams, who delivered the sermon, spoke of death as a way of saying goodbye to taxes, cancer and pain. He said to the family “the devil can no longer touch Denton Clarke”. According to Rev Williams “God wants us to live good and rejoice on Earth”. He implored Christians to let others know that they belong to the kingdom.

Denton Clarke is survived by his wife Carmen, nine children; Sharon, Donald, Natalie, Heather, Sheryl, Dugal, Paula, Carl, and Lucal, seven grandchildren, four sisters, one brother, nieces, nephews, and other relatives and friends.

His remains were interred at the Meadowrest Memorial Gardens in St Catherine.