KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, has applauded the late comedienne, Elva Ruddock, for her sterling contribution to the development of Jamaica’s entertainment industry.

At the celebration for the life of Ruddock, which was held at the Karl Hendrickson Auditorium, Jamaica College in St Andrew on Saturday, Grange said she helped to share our “one of a kind, Jamaican kind of vibe” with other Caribbean nationals and foreigners across the globe.

“We’re here to celebrate Elva… . One of the final posts that Elva made on social media simply read, ‘If it’s not uplifting, inspiring and resonating with my entire being, it’s a no’, and I think those words simply, succinctly, but adequately, sum up our dear friend, Elva,” Grange said.

“She was such a positive person, so full of life, vibrant, joyful, hilarious; someone who could bring sunshine on a rainy day,” she added.

The minister said she was Jamaica’s very own ‘Hero Duck’, which was an alias Ruddock embraced since 2014, after a cashier she purchased a smartphone battery from mistakenly wrote her name as “Hero Duck”, instead of E. Ruddock.

“Elva believed that life will not be perfect, but we have to make it work by doing what is uplifting, inspiring and resonating with the entire being. With that mindset, Elva left the corporate world for the stage. When she left the corporate world, she needed to be free to pursue what she loved best – that was to bring joy and laughter to the lives of others through her comedy,” she said.

Ruddock’s co-presenter for Bashco Infomercial, Omar Azan, said she was a hard-working woman.

“If you knew Elva, you know that the work comes first… . Some of you may have heard, how when we were filming the last infomercials, she really should not have been able to make it, but she took up herself… and [when] we said, ‘Are you sure you can make it?’ she said, ‘Make it?… Mi outside!’ Elva checked herself out of the hospital and came down to Bashco. She did the whole infomercial and checked herself right back in,” Azan said.

“I truly enjoyed and loved every bit of my time knowing and working with Elva. Our bond on the programme and at the events became something I never expected or envisioned. We became amazing friends,” he added.

Azan was supported on the stage by the entire production team of the infomercial when offering his tribute.

The celebration for the life of Ruddock was conducted in the form of a comedy show, as she would have wanted it, with hosts Comedian, Chris “Johnny’ Daley and Dahlia Harris. Many of the island’s leading comedians brought laughter to the mourners.

In addition to serving as a host for the Bashco Infomercial, Ruddock was also a comedienne on FAME FM’s comedy-driven programme, ‘Full House Friday’ and hosted numerous private shows and events for corporate companies.

She died on October 7 after a battle for years with the chronic illness, lupus.