HER LOVE OF music was equal only to her love of cooking.
And yesterday, family and friends of Kean Springer remembered both at a memorial service of praise and thanksgiving in honour of her life at the Hawthorne Methodist Church, Worthing, Christ Church yesterday.
The music critic, calypso commentator and National Independence Festival of Creative Arts judge succumbed to illness on May 7, this year.
Yesterday, as her son Kevin traced his mother’s professional career until she retired, he reminded the congregation that “to us mummy was not only a mother, but a sister, a confidante, a disciplinarian, a mentor, an educator, a cook extraordinaire, an entertainer whose talent we had grown so accustomed to we took it for granted”.
He added: “She enjoyed entertaining the pubic and launched two CDs of her own.”
Springer described her protectiveness towards her children as that of “a lioness with her cubs” and they in turn would await her safe arrival at home after watching her television commentary.
Her second son, Bevan, and daughter Karen also read tributes from two of their mother’s long-time friends.
A moving musical tribute came from pre-eminent guitarist Mike Sealy who said his interaction and later friendship with Springer dated from the early 1980s.
As he held aloft a review by Springer of one of his performances, Sealy added: “I haven’t yet come to grips with her passing. Her passing has left an emptiness but I have to live with it.”
His nimble fingers then wandered up and down on the fretboard of his guitar and evoked the pain of his loss as he performed the hymn It May Be At Morn which he settled for over Air On G String.
“She was like a mother to my kids,” he added.
The homily was delivered by Methodist minister Rev Dr Cuthbert Edwards.
Springer, who was cremated, is survived by her children Karen, Kevin and Bevan and five grandchildren. (HLE)
