Fri | Mar 29, 2024

Shanice Dean killed on brink of entering JCF

Aunt tells mourners 27-y-o robbed of chance to pursue dream job

Published:Friday | July 15, 2022 | 12:12 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
Richard Dean, father of the late Shanice Dean, gathers with other mourners in front of the coffin bearing her remains at Thursday’s funeral at Good Tidings Mennonite Church on Whitehall Avenue, St Andrew.
Richard Dean, father of the late Shanice Dean, gathers with other mourners in front of the coffin bearing her remains at Thursday’s funeral at Good Tidings Mennonite Church on Whitehall Avenue, St Andrew.
Richard Dean gives a farewell kiss to his daughter Shanice moments before the burial rites were completed on Thursday. Shanice was shot dead at the Meadowrest Memorial Gardens in Spanish Town, St Catherine, on May 17. Richard Dean has lost two daughters to
Richard Dean gives a farewell kiss to his daughter Shanice moments before the burial rites were completed on Thursday. Shanice was shot dead at the Meadowrest Memorial Gardens in Spanish Town, St Catherine, on May 17. Richard Dean has lost two daughters to violence.
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It was a tearful affair yesterday as hundreds of friends and relatives of 27-year-old Shanice Dean said goodbye to a young woman whose life was cut short by gunmen weeks before she began training to become a police officer.

Shanice, the eldest sister of the abducted schoolgirl Ananda Dean, whose death rattled the nation more than a decade ago, was one of two people shot dead at a funeral at the Meadowrest Memorial Gardens in Spanish town, St Catherine, on May 17.

Delivering the eulogy during the service at the Good Tidings Mennonite Church on Whitehall Avenue in St Andrew, aunt Antoinette Dean said the young woman they affectionately called ‘Peach’ was a warrior, who was willing to fight for others to show her love.

“She always had her goals set on male-dominated fields … . At the time of her death, she was a businesswoman in the Zara line of clothing. Not to be forgotten, she was handed her dream in the JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) and was totally unaware when she was called and was only a couple weeks short of her training ... . This was the job she really wanted as it fits her character,” said Antoinette.

Richard Dean lay across his daughter’s coffin while Tamara Porter gave a touching rendition of Heaven Sounding Sweeter All The Time.

During his tribute, the grieving dad’s message was more of love than in remembrance of Shanice.

“What makes it (life) precious is that it ends. I know that now more than ever, and I say today to all of us, time is luck. Peach never have any on the 17th of May,” said the father, who also lost 11-year-old Ananda in 2008.

“Don’t waste your life living for someone else. Live your life and love your life, people. Make it count for something. Peach did live hers. She lived a wonderful life, and she shared that with all of us,” said Richard Dean, noting that the days since Shanice’s passing have been dark and acknowledging that those ahead could be even more painful.

He described Shanice as the most loving and caring person one would know, adding that she has left behind a legacy of happiness and love.

“We have to be greater than what we are suffering now … . We must carry a piece of Peach in everything we do,” he said, fighting back the tears as his voice cracked.

Shanice’s younger sister, Showana Francis, said her own world crumbled at her sister’s passing, describing Shanice as her best friend and the best mother to her child.

“I could talk to Peach about anything, and God took Peach away from me. Now who is going to be my bigger sister? Who am I going to trust to tell all my secrets?” Francis said.

Grandmother Dorcey Williams said Shanice promised her a house on her last birthday in January.

“I remember my granddaughter said to me, ‘Grandma, don’t worry yourself. I will buy yuh the house on the hill’. She gone before me. but the house that she promised me is the heavenly home. We shall meet there,” said Williams.

During his short sermon, Pastor Liston Aiken asked the grieving family turn to God for comfort.

“We serve a God of love … . I say to you, God’s love can reach you at the point where it hurts most. Never try to deal with your pain by yourself. When you try to deal with your pain by yourself, it adds to your pain. Give your pain to God because God is a God of love,” he said.

Shanice’s remains were interred at the Dovecot Memorial Park.

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com