HE was a lawyer, diplomat, corporate executive, parliamentarian, attorney general, minister of justice, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and president of the Senate, but for all that, no one metric could span the life of Professor Oswald Gaskell Harding, King’s Counsel, “because he lived many remarkable lives within a single lifetime”.

This according to son Jeremy Harding, who in eulogising the former diplomat who held the distinction of being the longest-serving senator in Jamaica’s history and the first president of the Senate to serve two non-consecutive terms, during a thanksgiving service at The University of the West Indies Chapel in Mona, St Andrew, on Monday, said the “life and interest” of the man he called father “extended far beyond public office”.

“He was also a philosopher, professor and dean, author, historian, an avid collector of Jamaican art, and throughout his life a passionate patron and advocate for the arts and culture of Jamaica,” he said while sharing snippets of his childhood with the man who passed on June 24 at the age of 90 after more than five decades of public service. He said Professor Harding, who spent his formative years in the West Kingston communities of Jones Town, Denham Town and Greenwich Farm, migrating to the United States after losing his mother at four years of age, was a product of all his experiences which he never failed to convert to wisdom.

“Today I show you all in attendance, ‘there lies a great man’,” he said quoting the very words his father declared to him as he stood over the body of first prime minister of Independent Jamaica Sir Alexander Bustamante, when he passed in 1977.

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness (left) greets Jeremy Harding (right), son of the late Professor Oswald Harding, King’s Counsel, following a thanksgiving service at The University of the West Indies Chapel in Mona, St Andrew, on Monday for the former Senate president. At centre, grandson of the former public servant, Chase Rooney, looks on. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

Grandson Chase Harding, in a poignant tribute, said, “Granddad was an incredibly wise man with a very concrete worldview. Whenever I think about him, it is not just the titles he held or the accomplishments that everyone knows him for that come to my mind, it is the small moments…those little moments are the memories I cherish the most.”

The grandfather he knew, he said, was never one who viewed life on the basis of “status and recognition” but solely on “contribution”.

“Grandad was a public servant in every sense of the word. He cared deeply about Jamaica, he believed in education giving young people opportunities, and leaving the country better than he found it. Around two days before grandad passed he said something that has stayed with me since, he said ‘right now I am not living, I am existing and if I can’t make a contribution then I don’t need to be here anymore,” he said.

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange signs the condolence book at the thanksgiving service for the life of Oswald Harding at The University Chapel, Mona, Monday. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

Monday, Garth Minott, bishop of Kingston, in delivering the homily, said Harding understood and demonstrated the true meaning of public service.

“Public service, giving of self to others, is reflecting the nature and character of God. Oswald Harding understood this and gave himself,” Minott said.

In stating that scripture itself supports the notion “that those who commit themselves to public service must anticipate ordeal”, Minott said, “This is not a job, a call or a vocation for the weak of heart. Public service is not for people who are going to run at the drop of a hat.”

“Public service is for those who are willing to have their lives opened to public scrutiny. Public service is for those who are willing to confront… public service means being willing to come alongside even those who speak unkindly of you. It is a commitment to the ordeal of life, recognising that God goes before us at all times to call people to service above self,” he said further.

Fomer president of the People’s National Party Dr Peter Phillips greets Marigold Harding, widow of Oswald Harding, at the service of thanksgiving for Harding’s life at The University of the West Indies Chapel Monday.(Photo: Garfield Robinson)

Harding, a Kingston College alum, earned a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University and studied at the University of London before qualifying as a lawyer. Later, after leaving politics, he obtained a PhD in philosophy from The University of the West Indies, Mona. He was appointed to the Senate in 1977 and served continuously until 2002, the longest such tenure on record. Harding also became the first person to serve two non-consecutive terms as president of the Senate (1980-1984 and 2007-2011). He also he served as leader of Opposition Business in the Senate. He also contested House of Representatives seats unsuccessfully in 1976, 1993, and 1997.

Monday, Harding’s grieving widow Marigold, to whom he was wedded for nearly six decades, sat quietly dignified, smiling fleetingly at points, dutifully attended to by their youngest son Zachary.

— Alicia Dunkley-Willis