EULOGY

ALLAN PERCIVAL CURNIFFE.WAS BORN ON DECEMBER 28, 1930 TO ALBERTA CAMPBELL AND IVAN CURNIFFE IN SHERWOOD CONTENT, FALMOUTH JAMAICA.. HE WAS THE SEVENTH  OF EIGHT. CHILDREN AND HAD ONLY ONE SISTER AMONG THEM.

HE ATTENDED WALDENSIA  BAPTIST CHURCH AND SCHOOL, HE LEFT SCHOOL AT AN EARLY AGE AND BEGAN TO WORK WITHIN HIS COMMUNITY..

IN PURSUIT OF A BETTER LIFE, HE LEFT FALMOUTH AT THE AGE OF NINETEEN  AND WENT TO LIVE IN  KINGSTON WITH HIS BROTHER THE LATE DEACON JAMES MALCOLM.   HE WORKED AT PARCEL POST DELIVERING MAILS AND ON WEEKENDS HE WOULD ENGAGE  IN BUYING AND SELLING MERCHANDISE. 

AFTER OBSERVING SOME WORKERS ON A CONSTRUCTION SITE HE BECAME INTERESTED IN LEARNING TO CUT  CONCRETE WITH CHISEL AND HAMMER AND  REINFORCE STEEL REBAR.  HE QUICKLY LEARNED THE TRADE AND OVERTIME BECAME A FOREMAN ON VARIOUS WORKSITES. THIS JOB REQUIRED HIM TO BE ABLE TO SUPERVISE DIFFERENT LOCATIONS AND SO HE BOUGHT A MOTORCYCLE.

HE MET AND FELL IN LOVE WITH OUR MOM, NORMA THOMAS IN 1955 AND THEY  HAD THEIR FIRST CHILD TOGETHER A YEAR LATER..

HE GOT THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEASE A PIECE OF LAND IN TRENCH TOWN WHERE HE BUILT A HOUSE AND STARTED TO RAISE HIS FAMILY THERE

ON WEEKENDS HE RODE HIS BIKE TO AND FROM ST. MARY  SELLING ICE CREAM AND FUDGE.  IT WAS ON ONE OF THOSE OCCASIONS, IN 1959 , ON HIS WAY BACK INTO KINGSTON THAT ON REACHING  LINSTEAD, ST CATHERINE,  HE MET IN AN ACCIDENT WHICH CAUSED HIM TO LOSE ONE OF HIS LEGS.

HE WAS THE MAIN BREADWINNER FOR THE FAMILY AND WAS  MOTIVATED TO CONTINUE TO PROVIDE FOR US;  SO AS SOON AS HE COULD, HE CLIMBED ON  LADDERS USING CRUTCHES AND CONTINUED TO DO STEEL WORK.  HE LATER RECEIVED A PROSTHETIC LEG THROUGH DR. JOHN GOLDING AND THE MONA REHAB FOUNDATION IN ST ANDREW. THIS ENHANCED HIS MOBILITY AND HE AMAZED HIS MANAGERS AND COWORKERS ALIKE BECAUSE HE WENT ON TOP OF BUILDINGS WITH MUCH ALACRITY GETTING THE JOB DONE.

THE SETTLEMENT FROM THE ACCIDENT ASSISTED HIM TO ACQUIRE HIS OWN PROPERTY THUS ENABLING HIM TO MOVE HIS FAMILY OUT OF TRENCH TOWN IN 1967,  BY THEN HE FATHERED EIGHT CHILDREN, FOUR BOYS AND FOUR GIRLS.  HE LATER MARRIED OUR MOM AND THEY WERE TOGETHER UNTIL HER PASSING IN 1988.

AS A HUSBAND HE WAS THE HEAD OF HIS HOME, HE TOOK HIS FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES SERIOUSLY.   HE WAS A PROVIDER AND PROTECTOR.

AS A FATHER HE WAS A DISCIPLINARIAN WHO SAW THE VALUE OF BEING EDUCATED AND IMPRESSED UPON US TO MAKE USE OF OPPORTUNITIES TO DEVELOP OURSELVES. HE TAUGHT US THE VALUE OF FAMILY AND WOULD CONSTANTLY SAY TO US ‘IF IT IS ONE BANANA IT MUST SHARE FOR ALL OF YOU’.

HE WAS AN AVID READER AND ENCOURAGED US TO READ, MY SIBLINGS HAVE MEMORIES OF THE BOOK - ‘THE ROYAL READERS’ THAT HAD TO BE READ DURING SUMMER HOLIDAYS AND STUDIED POEMS THAT HAD TO BE RECITED BY THE TIME HE RETURNED HOME.

DADDY BELIEVED IN COMMUNITY, HE WAS WELL RESPECTED WHEREVER HE LIVED OR WORKED  AND BECAUSE OF HIS CARING SPIRIT HE MADE FRIENDS EASILY. 

AS A GRANDFATHER HE WAS LIKE A SECOND  PARENT, VERY PROTECTIVE, ENCOURAGING AND SUPPORTIVE.  HE WAS A FOUNTAIN OF WISDOM AND AN INSPIRATION OF WHAT YOU COULD ACCOMPLISH WITH VERY LITTLE RESOURCES THROUGH HARDWORK AND PERSEVERANCE. GOD GAVE OUR FAMILY A STRONG LEADER WHO INSTILLED IMPORTANT MORALS AND VALUES  IN US.

HE  VISITED FLORIDA, SPENDING TIME WITH HIS BROTHER THE LATE JAMES MALCOLM AND HE EVENTUALLY REMARRIED AND MIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES IN 1989, THAT MARRIAGE ENDED IN DIVORCE.  HE LATER FELL IN LOVE AGAIN AND  IN 1999  HE MARRIED CARMEL, AND HER THREE DAUGHTERS BECAME HIS.OWN.

HE WAS INTRODUCED TO CENTRAL NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH BY HIS BROTHER AND BECAME A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH THROUGH BAPTISM  OVER 20 YEARS AGO, HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE BIBLE INCREASED AS HE DILIGENTLY STUDIED THE WORD ON A DAILY BASIS AND WOULD TELL US THAT HE READS THE ENTIRE BIBLE EACH YEAR. HE  ENJOYED THE FELLOWSHIP. AND THE BROTHERHOOD AND  MISSED ATTENDING IN PERSON AFTER COVID BUT HE REALLY APPRECIATED THE VISITS HE RECEIVED FROM HIS CHURCH FAMILY FROM TIME TO TIME.

DADDY’S HEALTH TOOK A TURN LAST JULY AND PROGRESSIVELY DETERIORATED. HE FOUGHT BRAVELY DRAWING STRENGTH FROM GOD, ALL THE TIME AFFIRMING IT IS WELL WITH HIS SOUL.

GOD GAVE HIM TO US FOR 93 YEARS  AND WE ARE THANKFUL FOR HIS LIFE. 

DADDY’S DESIRE IS FOR US TO KNOW GOD PERSONALLY, HONOR FAMILY AND DO ALL THE GOOD WE CAN TO ALL THE PEOPLE WE CAN. 

HE WAS PRECEDED IN DEATH BY HIS PARENTS, SIX BROTHERS AND  THREE SONS LIVINGSTON, PAUL AND EVERTON.

HE IS SURVIVED BY HIS WIFE CARMEL, HIS SISTER LARIS,  FIVE CHILDREN - OLIVENE (CLAUDETTE), MARJORIE (JUDY) , SYLVESTER (SYL), MARGUERITA (RITA) AND PATRICIA (PATSY). SON-IN-LAW MOSES, THREE STEP CHILDREN - SHARON, NANIECE AND KERRIANN. ELEVEN GRANDCHILDREN - SIX GREAT GRANDCHILDREN, COUSINS, NIECES, OTHER RELATIVES AND FRIENDS.