FOR many, especially those of the football fraternity, Captain Horace Garfield Burrell was a man who had a dominant voice, larger than life personality, and a fierce passion for football, but to his children he was simply and most importantly a loving dad.

In his 67 years on Earth, Burrell led a life filled with various achievements, most notably those related to football, such as being president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) for a collective 19 years, as well as a vice-president of CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football).

Others would still remember his success as an entrepreneur, having founded in 1995 the restaurant and bakery chain, The Captain’s Bakery and Grill and Captain’s Aviation Services 13 years later.

All these accomplishments and more were lauded at the thanksgiving service for his life which was held yesterday at the National Arena in Kingston. But, while Captain Burrell had many successes in the football arena and business world, the biggest and most treasured ones were undoubtedly his four children, Tahj, who predeceased him; Tiphani; Romario; Jaeden; and his two grandchildren.

“I constantly saw his name on television, in the newspaper and in the press, his robust voice and command of the English language came across clearly and permeated the speakers of any television or radio that carried his voice over the airways,” Romario stated in his father’s remembrance.

He continued: “His voice, confidence and reassuring nature seemed so calculated, yet so effortless. His presence was such that he seemed to be a giant standing….This was the Horace Burrell that the world knew, but I must confess today, that I barely noticed some of these things in my everyday life.”

Romario stated that he knew or thought he knew the extent of his father’s bubbly persona, but to all his children, this great man was simply dad. He said his memories of his father were not the “big cliché moments” like those on a TV sitcom, but rather it was the little things, such as his father’s constant presence and interest in the daily lives of his children.

He noted that his father used to chastise him to take school seriously, such was his value on education, and taught not only him to be a proud Jamaican man, but an entire country how to be proud in 1998 when he led the Reggae Boyz to the 1998 World Cup in France.

He said his father’s legacy, however, is not just of a team qualifying for World Cup finals, rather his legacy is built on the belief that a country can achieve great things when people refuse to stop fighting until they realise their greatness.

A defining moment, however, for the young Burrell was his father’s attendance at his graduation despite being sick.

“You see, at the height of my father’s battle with illness he made it a priority to attend my university graduation despite being in the emergency room the night before. It was his dream to see me graduate and he refused to stop fighting until that dream was realised,” Romairo said.

He added that the country owed it to his father to never stop chasing dreams and that all his children loved him wholeheartedly.

His only daughter, Tiphani Burrell-Piggott, who also shared in the remembrance, said her dad was many things, including a great son of Jamaica who dedicated his life to football and his country, while also being a supportive and adoring father.

Burrell-Piggott stated that many may see her as a mother, wife or a doctor in socio-medical sciences, but to her father, she was always “a fierce but warm, warrior princess named Pif”.

This lifelong nickname, she said, came from her own stubbornness and inability when she was very young to pronounce her name, Tiphani, and rather than accepting her father’s correction, in true Burrell style argued that her name was Pif.

She explained that her father decided to call her Pif, keeping the name even as she grew older and continued to call her Pif. As she faced various problems, such at age five when she impaled her big toe, and when she successfully passed the Common Entrance Examination to his school of choice, Immaculate Conception High.

“He called me Pif when we lost my brother, his first-born son Tahj, in 1999, and he called me a few months after I had returned to university. We were broken humans reeling over our loss but could not find any words to talk about it. He said, ‘Pif, do you need me to come,’ I said yes”, Burrell-Piggott recalled.

“He was on the next plane to Washington, DC, and for three days he came to classes with me and sat at the back of the classroom. He [also] came to get a manicure and a pedicure and he left the salon in one of those pedicure slippers and proceeded to walk down the streets in these slippers all to provide amusement and some laughter for his Pif,” she continued.

Burrell-Piggott explained that with time, as she married, she became “Mrs Pif” and her seven-year-old daughter, Zuri became “Little Pif”.

She noted that her father loved his grandchildren and couldn’t bear to see them cry and would often rush to his younger granddaughter’s crib to see if she needed his help, and even if he could not find the strength to lift her, would sit with her.

“As I lay watching him slip away, he responded when I said it is Pif; ‘Pif is here with you; you can go in peace. Fear not, for your work is done here, you’re a proud son of Jamaica, you are a wonderful father, you are wonderful grandfather, and you can let go,” Burrell-Piggott said.

She added that she will keep her promise to her father and honour his wishes and that all his children were tremendously grateful for his contributions and unwavering support throughout his life.

Burrell-Piggott also expressed her thanks to well-wishers who continue to support the family during the bereavement and thanked the staff of The Captain’s Bakery and Grill and Aviation Services for their service and noted that family members will continue to serve Jamaica in the best way they can.