The funeral for Triston Rose on Saturday, February 8, descended into chaos caused by a massive crowd’s jostle to see the face of the beloved 28-year-old, who was electrocuted on the job at Sangster International Airport in St. James on December 4 last year.
His corpse was brought back to his rural community of Reckford, Clarendon, for burial as well as a thanksgiving service at Reckford New Testament Church of God.
During a tribute, Winchester Rose, an uncle of the deceased, said the massive turnout signified the people’s love for Triston, who also was known as Palmer.
“I realized that he was loved by a lot – and I mean a lot of people, and the only reason I realized that is the crowd that I see. The crowd tells you that his life in the community and surrounding areas was good,” the uncle posited.
He added: “Triston wasn’t just my nephew; he is like a son to me; he lived with me for eight years before I went to the United States of America.”
Meanwhile, Bryony Bonnick, who delivered the eulogy, said her late relative was jovial, ambitious, family-oriented and God-fearing.
“Triston had a jovial personality and laughed at the simplest of things. He was loved by everyone he came into contact with; he was a people person,” she said.
She further stated that Triston loved his mother’s cooking as well as shoes. He also had a knack for football, which earned him many friends in Reckford and in Montego Bay where he lived with his girlfriend Sian Scott and his step-daughter. He did not have a biological child.
“Triston was able to carry out any domestic chore,” Bryony said in the eulogy, adding: “Whenever he washed white [clothes], they would be like diamonds in the sunlight. Additionally, he loved to express his feeling through art; he was a great artist.”
Triston, whose death is said to have shocked his relatives and friends, is a past student of Reckford Basic School and Stacyville All Age. A group of his former classmates from Claude McKay High School attended the funeral.
Up to the time of his death, Triston was employed as a labourer to Wepro Construction Limited, which is contracted to work at Sangster International Airport.
After the thanksgiving service, pall bearers lifted Triston’s casket shoulder-high.
They carried it behind the hearse through the main street of Reckford to the family plot, where the crowd was waiting eagerly to view the corpse.
The casket, initially placed at the entrance to the grave, was later taken to two other sections of the burial site to facilitate orderly viewing. However, disorder reigned. There was even a fist-fight.
Apparently peeved by the pandemonium, pall bearers closed the casket and brought it back to the entrance of the grave.
They clamoured for the burial to proceed without further viewing, but that proposal was shot down by some of Triston’s relatives – mainly female cousins, who littered the graveside with expletives.
The pastor, Bishop Steve Mason, walked away, forcing the burial to be halted for about an hour.
During that halt, Triston’s mother Marie Bonnick and father Ottey Rose separately appealed for an end to the chaotic scene.
Directing her outrage at relatives, the mother said: “Oonu seh oonu love Triston and is pure disgrace oonu a carry down! If oonu did love him, oonu wouldn’t a behave soh. Mek him bury inna peace!”
The father, wearing a tough look on his face, vowed to get tough in action against the people misbehaving.
Member of Parliament for Clarendon Northern, Horace Dalley, also openly expressed dissatisfaction. “Him (Triston) don’t deserve this; the bad behaviour and disrespect!” he shouted.
Triston was buried after Bishop Mason yielded to appeals for him to return to the graveside to complete the process.
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