Farewell, Angelo Laurence - a man for all people

MANDEVILLE, Manchester:

During a lively yet equally tranquil thanksgiving service at the Andrews Memorial United Church on Saturday, friends and family of the late Angelo Laurence gathered to bid their final farewell to the man to whom they can find no second.

Many knew him for his sarcastic humour, witty personality, deep involvement in community development, and the fervency with which he carried out his tasks as a correspondent for The Gleaner and the general manager for Pace (People, Art, Culture, Education) TV.

"He was the voice of the people, and he took pride in making sure that their concerns received the kind of public attention that they deserved ... This was his calling ...," said Custos of Manchester Sally Porteous as she delivered her tribute.

He had a zero-tolerance approach to complacency and believed that whatever he was involved in, it had to be done with efficiency or not done at all.

WORKING THROUGH ILLNESS

It was this same tenacity that saw him working assiduously to provide coverage to various entities, even as he battled colon cancer.

According to Dionne Jackson Miller, president of the Press Association of Jamaica, Laurence was a man of his word.

She relayed that though Laurence was not in Kingston, where the PAJ is based, he made his membership felt, so much so that when the association fell on hard times due to financial constraints, Laurence made a commitment to stand a percentage of its bills every month for two years.

Unsung hero, giant of a man, media mogul in his own right, journalistic pioneer, and very straightforward were just a few of the attributes repeated throughout the service by those who offered tributes.

His colleagues sang his praises as they reflected on how much he enriched their lives.

"... He always extended himself to help others ... He was always seeking to diffuse a tense situation by injecting some humour ... he was more concerned about providing a service beneficial to his community than acquiring wealth ... ." said Glendon Baker as he presented on behalf of TVJ correspondent Courtney Morgan.