Fitz Albert Bennett, whose aliases included ‘Moses’, could have acquired enormous fortune and fame, but he was unwilling to pay the spiritual price.
The 72-year-old was much younger when he, along with two friends, got a big opportunity to do music with Reggae legend Bob Marley in Trench Town, Kingston.
But the trio eventually shunned the opportunity.
Fitzroy Bennett, a son of Moses, explained: “The only reason why Daddy, Uncle Thomas and the other person did not cut a record with Bob Marley; Bob Marley wanted them to deny Christ and pick up Haile Selassie.”
Moses went on to become a deacon in the church.
He remained a Christian up to the morning he drew his last breath on 17 July 2020 at his home in Top Hill district, Lluidas Vale Division, St. Catherine.
Moses was buried at his home on a sunny Saturday afternoon, August 15, moments after a funeral service at Top Hill Church of God of Prophesy.
Fitzroy, in delivering the eulogy, said his father was talkative and fashionable, and was a stickler for education.
“Daddy was a disciplinarian; he was a no-nonsense person where discipline was concerned,” Fitzroy further said.
Moses, who attended Top Hill All Age School - now Top Hill Primary, was first employed as a sugar boiler at Worthy Park Sugar Estate in Lluidas Vale.
“He did his tasks so well, his employers were enthused and elated by him. He was promoted. No sugar could have left the Worthy Park Sugar Estate unless Moses checked it,” Fitzroy - waxing eloquence - told the relatively large audience.
He said his father subsequently participated in the government’s Overseas Employment Programme - first travelling to Canada and later to the United States.
When his short involvement in the programme ended, Moses fully concentrated on farming - cultivating sugarcane and raising animals.
He, nurturing his spiritual being, baptized in the Top Hill Pentecostal Church of God, but later became a member of the Top Hill Church of God of Prophesy.
“My father was highly respected by persons near and far,” Fitzroy declared, adding: “I am not ashamed to say I am very proud of the way my dad grew me.”
Moses had three other children - Kayan, Kenesha, and Fitz. He is survived by his wife since 1990 - Monica Hutton Bennett, three sisters, three brothers,10 grandchildren, nieces, nephews, other relatives, and friends.
Moses, born 9 June 1948, was the son of Doris and Donald Bennett, who both predeceased him by more than a decade.
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