Trinidad and Tobago Friday bade a final farewell to its first president, Sir Ellis Clarke, following a two hour state funeral attended by hundreds of local dignitaries, ordinary citizens and school children.
Sir Ellis, 93, who died on December 30 last year, one month after suffering a massive stroke, was eulogised as a patriot who was the “quintessential servant of the public to whom he dedicated many years of his life”.
President George Maxwell Richards said that Sir Ellis, who was the last governor general of this oil rich twin island republic, had the task of taking the country out of colonialism into independence.
“He had to get it right and he did,” said President Richards, noting that while he has died Sir Ellis “has not left us.
‘He never can as his contribution to the birth of our nation is a fact of history that cannot be erased,” he said, telling the population that a monument to Sir Ellis would be for citizens “to do what is necessary to become …familiar with the ideas and ideals” that drove people like him to seek independence and nationhood.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar, speaking at the state funeral held at the recently opened National Academy and Performing Arts building, on the outskirts of the capital, said that Sir Ellis was a patriot who went beyond partisan politics to embrace all of Trinidad and Tobago.
She said he had cleared the path for the island’s democracy “and his spirit lives on in every citizen”.
She said that the St. Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) had agreed to establish the “Sir Ellis Clarke Chair in Commonwealth and Parliamentary Constitutional Studies”.
“This Chair will be a major centre of learning available to and serving not only Trinidad and Tobago but the entire Commonwealth, as well as students of constitutional studies all over the world. It will be of immense value as governments everywhere seek to reform and adapt their constitutions to meet national needs.
“The pioneering work of our own Sir Ellis will be brought to bear on future generations. This endowment will honour not only his work in a major field of Government endeavour but his legacy will continue to benefit students, researchers and scholars from all over the world in a field of study that was literally his passion,” she added.
Chief Justice Ivor Archie had called for the work of the late constitutional lawyer to be properly documented for future generations.
Archbishop of Trinidad and Tobago Edward Gilbert, the main celebrant at state funeral service, said that Sir Ellis lived his life to the full.
Grenada’s Prime Minister and Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Chairman, Tillman Thomas said that
“Sir Ellis was renowned throughout the Community for his brilliant legal mind and his work in Constitutional Law.
“Indeed, his expertise in that field had been widely sought even beyond the Caribbean and he is widely regarded as the drafter of the Republican Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago of 1976 and as having a significant role in that country’s Independence Constitution of 1962.
“There is no doubt that Sir Ellis Clarke served his country with distinction and this was recognised with his being awarded its highest honour – the Trinity Cross,” Thomas said, describing the late constitutional lawyer as ”this most heralded son of the soil”.
St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas in a message sent to Prime Minister Persad Bissessar said that “Sir Ellis’ distinguished career spanning the legal environment, the diplomatic arena and governance was an example, not only to the people of Trinidad and Tobago, but to the entire Caribbean, as to the heights to which we can all aspire.
“His contribution has been well received and he will be truly missed. As your country mourns the passing of a Caribbean giant, be comforted by the fact that we share in your moment of bereavement,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
Earlier, relatives and close friends, including former prime minister Patrick Manning attended a private funeral service at the Roman Catholic Church of Assumption for Sir Ellis who became head of state in 1976 after Trinidad and Tobago attained Republican status. He was the second and last Governor General of this country.
Sir Ellis, who was bestowed the Companion of St. Michael and St George (C.M.G.) in 1960, and made a Knight Bachelor (Kt Bachelor) in 1963, was one of the first to be awarded Trinidad and Tobago’s highest honour: the Trinity Cross (TC) in 1969.
Between 1954 and 1962 he held several posts within the colonial government and after the island gained independence in 1961, Sir Ellis became a foreign diplomat, holding numerous posts between 1962 to 1976, sometimes simultaneously, including Trinidad and Tobago’s permanent representative to the United Nations. He also served as ambassador to the United States and Mexico and was the island’s representative to the Organisation of American States.
Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Suruj Rambachan said that the government would consult widely and nationally on an appropriate way of remembering the man considered the “grandfather of the Country and the Constitution”.
“We want to do something that is going to be nationally accepted, and it must be in line perhaps with what the family is thinking. We have to find out whether Sir Ellis might have communicated to his family whether he wished to be recognised in a particular way. All of this we must deal with. There must be a consultative process,” Rambachan said.
“Recognition is due and recognition will be given,” he said.
