the THANKSGIVING service for singer and caterer Suzanne Couch will be held at Sts Peter and Paul Church on Old Hope Road in St Andrew on Thursday, August 9.

Peter Couch, widower and member of her Big Band, told the Jamaica Observer the service will get underway at 11:00 am. He was among loved ones at Clinica CIPAG in Mexico earlier this month where Suzanne died after battling stage four, triple-negative, inflammatory breast cancer. The 56-year-old was diagnosed in 2016 and sought advanced treatment at the Mexican facility after exhausting options offered at Hope Institute of Jamaica.

Just last month, Couch executed a fund-raising concert dubbed Hope in the Hills at Strawberry Hills, in St Andrew, for the local public cancer-care institution. Performers included her daughter Sarah Couch, British singer Joss Stone, and a surprise performance by Toots Hibbert. Though all acts gave memorable performances, it was Couch who stole the evening in a near two-hour set backed by Big Band. It was a bittersweet moment for some patrons, but that did not stop them from dancing away to songs like A Little More Love and Water Wash Over Me. For Suzanne, who also catered at the event, it marked the successful completion of an overdue project and the start of her new journey.

“This experience has been very emotional for me,” she told the Jamaica Observer at the time. “I’ve been wanting to do this show for two years; we had some issues getting sponsorship. Even though there were challenges, I knew that I had to keep pushing because I am sick. It’s incurable and it’s spreading. I’m in a lot of pain and I’m taking a lot of drugs right now. The next stage after this is treatment.”

The event raised more than $500,000 through ticket sales and pledges.

Couch began a professional career in music in the 1980s after joining the band Native, of which her husband was a member. Her last album, In The Rhythm, dropped in 2005 and entailed 14 tracks including Sigh of Relief and Wonderful.