BARBADIANS got an insight into the personal life of the late Prime Minister David Thompson from his close friend and confidante, attorney-at-law Brian Clarke, who delivered one of the eulogies at yesterday’s funeral service.
Clarke, who met Thompson while they were teenagers at school – he at Harrison College and Thompson at Combermere – said Thompson had several admirable and remarkable qualities.
“David was a warm, humane, generous and compassionate man. He was a loyal friend. His dry wit is legendary. He was confident, but never egotistical. He was not spiteful. He had a first-class memory and never forgot a name, face or family connection.
“He was efficient and decisive. He loved his music and his cricket,” Clarke told the attentive audience at Kensington Oval.
Continuing, he said: “David could admit to being wrong. I can think of two instances in particular where he said things he later came to regret, and unreservedly apologised, face to face, to the individuals he had hurt.”
He said Thompson was also extremely well organized, with considerable secretarial skills.
But it was the sneak preview into his family life, given by Clarke, which brought a smile to the faces of many a mourner.
Clarke spoke passionately of Thompson’s love for wife Mara, their children Misha, Oya and Osa-Marie, and his nephew Dario.
He recalled that Thompson met Mara while attending her sister Jeanine’s wedding.
He noted: “David had met Mara before, but after his encounter with her at the wedding, he confidently announced to me that morning that he had decided to get married.
“He described her calm, gentle, kind and simple nature and in his view, the fact that her father was a politician was just the icing on the cake – she would understand what it meant to be a politician’s wife. He had found his soulmate and I felt his joy!”
Those in attendance laughed as Clarke described how Thompson courted Mara while she was at Howard University by sending her copies of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) newspapers.
“David and Mara each set out to prove to the other that the politics which consumed three quarters of their lives should not interfere with their marriage. I believe that each of you will agree that it is nearly impossible, judged against our own experiences, to overstate the magnitude of this challenge.
“Misha, Oya and Osa-Marie are however the eloquent evidence of their success. David took every possible step to mitigate against the long periods he inevitably spent away from home.”
And he said Thompson “never conceded that his illness would defeat him. He always spoke in optimistic terms of his recovery . . . . He never asked the question ‘Why me?’. The only regret he expressed about his illness was that he would not have the opportunity to spend the time with his darling Osa that he had enjoyed with Misha and Oya.” (MB)
