Homegoing service for Albert Xavier

NEW YORK, September 8, 2010 - Scores of Grenadians turned out on Wednesday evening for the Homegoing Service for former Grenada Ambassador to the United States and the Organisation of American States (OAS), Albert O. Xavier.

Xavier died last Thursday in New York at the age of 84.

Grenada’s Ambassador to the United States and OAS, Gillian Bristol and Consul General Derrick James were among Grenadians who attended the viewing and service at the St. Matthew Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn, officiated by Father Victor Ubaka.

In her tribute on behalf of the Government and people of Grenada, Ambassador Bristol described the late Xavier as a patriarch, an intellectual, and a statesman.

“During his term in Washington DC, he also served from January to March of 1986 as Chair of the Permanent Council of the OAS –the body which has daily responsibility for the political affairs of the Organization. His leadership in that position was recognized by his colleague Ambassadors as “not only dynamic but effective”.

Obituary

ALBERT OSWYN XAVIER was born on January 8, 1926 in Birchgrove, St. Andrew, the third child of Stephen and Veronica Xavier.

He developed a love for teaching in his childhood and earned a Professional Teaching Certificate from Teacher’s Training College in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. ALBERT also obtained a degree in Economics from the London School of Economics. He also attended the University of the West Indies (Mona campus) where he studied Public Affairs and Business Administration.

Following that ALBERT spent the next ten years of his life as a Senior Mathematic Teacher at Presentation College in St. George’s, Grenada.

After leaving Presentation College ALBERT worked as a civil servant from 156 until 1966 with the Government of Grenada serving in various departments of government: Department of Labour, Communication and Works and External Affairs to name a few. From 1969 to 1979 he served as Editor of ‘The Torchlight’ – Grenada’s bi-weekly independent newspaper where he commented on various topics including what he believed to be disturbing changes in the political climate in Grenada. In 1979 ALBERT left Grenada for the United States, where he worked as an Administrative Officer at the Bank of New York, NYC.

In 1984 he was appointed Grenada Ambassador to the United States and the Organisation of American States, a post he held until 1990 when he retired. Over the remaining years of his life, he served as Consultant and Advisor to a number of organisations, friends and especially his family.

On September 2, 2010 ALBERT left us to join our heavenly father leaving behind eight children, Pauline, Kelvin, Carol, Hilma, Brian, Michelle, Dwight, Moise; eighteen grandchildren and three great grand children. Also left to mourn his passing are sisters Thelma Phillip and Daphne Watts, brother-in-law Carlyle Ross, several nieces and nephews and friends.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, philosopher and poet, wrote;

‘To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty;

To find the best in others;

To give of one’s life;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, garden patch,

or a redeemed social condition;

To have played and laugh with enthusiasm and sung with exultation;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived!

This is to have succeeded’

Those words by Emerson epitomized Albert O. Xavier

Lovingly submitted,

THE FAMILY