The following is the eulogy delivered at the service of thanksgiving for Linford Changur held on Saturday, September 15, 2018 at the Duhaney Park Gospel Assembly in Kingston. The eulogy was delivered by Changur’s cousins, Janelle Reid and Lee-Ann Godfrey.

Linford Changur was born on September 16, 1943 in the community of Swallowfield, St Andrew. He was the second of nine children born to Ivy and William Changur.

He attended Swallowfield All-Age School but he was to know illness, which made it impossible for him to complete this level of education.

In his later years, however, he enrolled in evening classes and studied courses in management which propelled him to floor and managerial positions at Hannah’s and Sons and later at Lee’s Fifth Avenue where he was employed for 23 years.

An ambitious young man, he met and married Rose Alexander, a union of 42 years which produced two children, Rama and Abigail, who, with their respective families produced five grandkids.

He was raised in a large family setting and though he was often sick he was happy and well attended to by his loving relatives. He often spoke of riding drag carts with his uncles and being excited when his father returned from sea with a big catch of sea creatures. Duppy stories were a favourite and whenever time spared, we could look forward to hearing a few.

Linford told tales of the day Hurricane Charlie came and blew off a man’s roof, it landed on the roof of an enemy of that man some distance away. It was a big joke to Linford, who saw it as a phenomenon.

He was an astute salesman taking pride in his sales ability. While employed at Lee’s Fifth Avenue he quoted to his boss Mr Issa, “Don’t tell the customer he can get something cheaper, tell him we have other inexpensive options.” That placed him in good standing as his boss soon realised this man knew what he was about and what he was doing.

Linford loved people, especially his in-laws. He would always be enquiring of their welfare and suggesting ways to help ease whatever situation.

He took care in setting mint, roses, rosemary and other plants for people who asked him. As for guavas he would say, “Pick all you want man”, while ensuring everyone got their share of star fruit. He would pick flowers or leaves and take to the day care next door, as well as ripe bananas and mangoes. He knew the names of all the kids who attended the day care and they called him ‘Grandpa’. His jealous little granddaughter, would retort, “Is my Grandpa!”

If he had an occasion to visit the Herrick Basic School (where his wife Rose taught), he would be seen tying shoelaces or straightening the kids collars or giving them a talk and reasoning with them. He loved to see them dance, especially Davia, his little friend from his street.

He was a family man, an excellent provider, always ensuring we had our meals and medication on time. He was admired for the nurturing he provided his children and later his grandchildren.

He was known to be always joking about something. His grandkids never took him seriously as his bark was bigger than his bite. When it came time for him to watch his nightly TVJ News and WPIX News, that would coincidentally be their chatting time. He would bark, “Hush up!”, turn off the television and say, “Unnu mek noise now!”. By this time the ‘grands’ would fall silent, yet still whispering and mocking him, it was a big joke for them.

In a humble way he was an all-round great person, loving and honest, always, and ever grateful were his attributes.

Apart from his co-workers, his neighbours were his friends. Almost every evening, especially on Sunday, there would be a small gathering at house #6, and this chatter would go on into the hours until ‘Goodnights’ were said.

He often said he would die at age 75, tomorrow (Sunday, September 16) would have been that very day, he was almost there but was stripped from this life Thursday, August 23, 2018, a few weeks short of his birthday.

Linford is already greatly missed, may his soul rest in eternal peace.