NEW YORK, USA — A Thanksgiving service for the life of the late founder and CEO of Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery and Grill, Lowell Hawthorne, takes place today in Brooklyn, New York.

The service, which will be held at the Christian Cultural Center, located on Flatlands Avenue, is scheduled to begin at 9:00 am following a viewing of the body, which starts at 8:00 am.

A wake for Hawthorne was scheduled to be held last evening at the Grace Baptist Church, 52 South 6th Avenue in Mt Vernon from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

The shock suicide death of the popular Jamaican-born businessman on December 2 has left the Jamaican community as well as those in his island home in mourning.

People from across the United States, meanwhile, have continued to pay tribute to Hawthorne for his innovation, hard work and success which served as an inspiration and hope to many within the diaspora.

In one of the many tributes, Washington-based reggae singer Ras Slick has penned a song entitled “Golden Krust”, a part of which says: “ You created Golden Krust, People said you had the golden touch. New York caan comprehend, we loss a father and a friend, that’s why we miss you so much.”

Hundreds of mourners attended a candlelight vigil at the location of the first Golden Krust store on Gunhill Road in the Bronx where Hawthorne started the business in the early 1980s. A similar event also took place at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica. Both events were held on December 9.

— Harold Bailey