So much has been said about the life of my beloved father Terence Ormonde since January 8th, 2014 when on 73, the umpire gave him out. This time, unlike October 2011, when he asked for a review from the umpire’s decision to the third umpire and had that decision reversed, there was no appeal. With bat raised, he walked to the pavilion where he was called for higher service to thunderous applause. It was a cautious innings since 2011 as he made his way to 73, but what a fine innings it was overall.
He was not alone when he took his last breath, my brother held his right hand, I held his left, Ann Mc Lennan, a true friend held one of his legs, two of his nurses were present and Father Evan Semple who had been summoned yet again, performed the ritual of the last rites and we all stayed until the great batsman had gone.
Terence Ormonde Holder was born on August 27th, 1940, the year Learie Constantine was named cricketer of the year to Cecil, called Cardus after well known English cricket writer Sir Neville Cardus, and Claudine Holder (still batting at 101) at Number 79 Village on the Corentyne in then British Guiana. His sister Lorna was born one year before. It is from the east they say wise men hail, and he was surely the wisest man I ever knew.
An expert on almost everything and never one unwilling to share that knowledge. He taught me so many lessons about life, about his own life. He shared his thoughts and fears as since 2010, I returned to Guyana and lived with him. I continued working overseas but it was my strong desire to be with him that prompted that decision.
He was passionate about his beloved Queen’s College and I heard countless stories of his days there after moving to Georgetown as a young boy. The Holders in search of a better life for their family made that move, in the days of the train. The family moved frequently in Georgetown and as they did, he changed schools, from St Stephen’s to Moravian and then finally to Dolphin Primary School where under the watchful eye of his cousin Beryl Gilroy, a teacher there, he won a Centenary Scholarship to Queen’s College in1952.
He loved his beloved Queen’s and his stories about his time there were humorous. He was among a elite group which included Professors Ewart Thomas of Stanford University, Winston Mc Gowan of the University of Guyana, Alvin Thompson known as 9.9 for his athletic prowess, Dr. Rupert Roopnarine, Dr. H.A.D. Chesney his best friend Victor Compton Insanally, the late John Lashley, Hugh Cholmondeley and Laurie Lewis.
In 1960 he was named among the QC Lictor’s Notable Departures with colours in athletcics, football and volleyball, Deputy Head of Moulder House. It was Professor Ewart Thomas who described him as the perfect student athlete. He recalled Laurie as Trinculo in a school play and remarked that though the performance had ended when everyone took their bow, Laurie always remained in that role.
He was not a convert to co-education though I followed his footsteps and entered QC in 1976. He felt this must have been a distraction for the boys and directlty impacted on the demise of sports there. No longer would QC produce a Bruce Pairadeau, a Roger Harper to play for West Indies, a Gordon ‘Ultimate Warrior” to lead Guyana at football or a Rupert Roopnarine to don the famous Cambridge blues.
His career in broadcasting has been well chronicled and as you know after serving the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (where Rafiq Khan, his friend and mentor described him as the Best Secretary General ever), he returned to Guyana in 1992 and joined the Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Co. Ltd as Deputy General Manager, a position he held until he fell ill in 2011.
He was always on the go, serving the Guyana Cricket Board as their PRO for over 20 years, the Guyana Manunfacturers and Services Association, the Private Sector Commission, the Private Sector HIV Initiative, Club Friday (a think thank of persons who wanted to see a better Guyana) and Rotary Club of Georgetown Central where he served as President and was a Paul Harris Fellow.
Terence Ormonde Holder still found time to live his life and he lived it his way. In true Holder style, I arrived in NY yesterday at 1 p.m. and attended a party in Somerset NJ hosted by a cousin Orin Greene and while there I heard Demarco’s song, and I felt this had to be Daddy’s theme song, and it goes, “I love my life, I love my life. None a wi whuh tomorrow bring cah de future deh hours away, so mi a live my life today, mi a live my life today…Mek a change, don’t mek nobody stress yuh, don’t mek no blood pressure mek yuh life leff yuh, never hurt a soul unless yuh haffi defend yuhself if dem try test yuh. Thank god fi my life yes.”
My father enjoyed his days on this earth. He was married twice, had four children, yours truly, Shireen, Beverley and Duane, grandchildren Akilah Bartley (now expecting what would’ve been his first great grand), Kevin Alert, Yohanse and Dominic Wyles, Natsaha Hunte, Xaria, T’Sehai, Nneneyah and So’Kari Holder.
He always had an eye for a beautiful woman, enjoyed his dominoes games played three times a week at the home of Percy Boyce’s sister Margot and when he took the advice of his children and no longer drove, I became his chauffeur and that provided more time for him to share stories with me.
His days of broadcasting in Guyana were perhaps his happiest and from joining GBS as Sales Manager to becoming the General Manager of the merged Radio Demerara and GBS. Stories of managing greats such as the late Wordsworth Mc Andrew, Mark Matthews, Ken Corsbie, Pancho Carew, quality of the voices of radio then including Rafiq Khan, Vic Insanally, Pat Cameron, Phyllis Jackson, the late Ayube Hamid and Hugh Hamilton. Memories of seeing Brent Chapman on his P50 with a transistor to his ear riding, so keen was his interest.
Cricket was certainly his greatest passion and recently there was so much I wanted to discuss with him, Mc Cullum’s triple century, Dhoni’s captaincy under attack and the West Indies dismal performances against Ireland. When he loved a player, that love came with loyalty, and those who made his elite group included Chris Gayle, M.S. Dhoni, Jacques Kallis, the maverick Kevin Pietersen, Virender Sehway, Kieron Pollard, Ramnaresh Sarwan and of course Shivnarine Chanderpaul, CCH.
In 2011, when the umpire gave him out and he survived the appeal, he was deliriously happy when he received a visit at home from Clive Lloyd, Chris Gayle, Darren Ganga, Curtley Ambrose and the entire Guyana cricket team. It was not long before he was back at Providence teasing Lance Gibbs about him coming out to bat at Queen’s Park as the last batsman to the chants of the crowd of, “Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen.”
Daddy’s involvement with Hands Uniting Guyana is almost forgotten but it was dear to his heart as was the first Folk Festival he arranged.
He lived in a Guyana where every day he pointed to countless errors in the print media and I must share this one with you, a reference to the recently elected Christoper Matthias as President of the Guyana Football Federation, stated “Matthias are”. Daddy, with his usual wit suggested that it was the ‘s’ at the end of the name that fooled the reporter that it was the plural.
We had to live up to his high standards and we failed at times, but he was a forgiving father. When he complimented anyone, it was a sincere acknowledgement of a job well done. I can remember those times when he told me I looked nice or I wrote a good letter to the newspaper, I felt like a small child getting a star in their exercise book.
This service is truly testimony to a man who never worked in the tri-state area but who others saw it fit to honour him here. His send off in Guyana, apart from the rain which delayed the burial was truly overwhelming. He must be smiling from above just at the thought of his local cricketing hero Shivnarine Chanderpaul, CCH bearing his body out of the church.
To the organisers, the Holders say a heartfelt thank you for this lovely service, to all those who attended, it means the world to me for this show of support and love.
To that great Umpire who called him home to rest, I give thanks for my father’s life. He was the best father to me and I am thankful I was able to let him know this.
His spirit lives on in me, his family and all whose lives he touched. Terence Ormonde Holder, Gone but not forgotten.
I thank you.
Delivered at Memorial Service celebrating the life of Terence O. Holder at Our Lady of Victory Church, Brooklyn, NY, Sunday February 23rd, 2014
