‘Ruddy’ Mears hailed as family man, PNP stalwart
‘He would organise groups, he would train workers, he would enumerate voters, and he was always present at all required meetings of the People’s National Party.’
FORMER PEOPLE’S National Party (PNP) caretaker for South West St Catherine, Rudyard Kiplin Mears, was recently eulogised as the consummate political organiser who was committed to family, community, country and party.
Opposition Leader Peter Phillips hailed Mears, who died after a brief illness at age 56, for dedicated service at all levels of the political spectrum.
“He would organise groups, he would train workers, he would enumerate voters, and he was always present at all required meetings of the People’s National Party,” Phillips told the congregation at St Dorothy’s Anglican Church in Church Pen, Old Harbour, recently.
“He was a true volunteer and advocate of the people, and I think that he represented the best of the political process because his commitment to political life was not born out of any desire for anything for himself but out of a desire to serve the people.”
In a remembrance that highlighted Mears’ love for family, Janice Beharie, a family friend, said the late politician was larger than life.
“He was an ordinary human being that lived an extraordinary life,” she said. Quoting from English poet and playwright William Shakespeare, Beharie said further: “’Kippy’, as he was called by his peers, embodied being born great, attaining greatness, and having greatness thrust upon him.
“Kippy loved and believed in family . ... Even if he would get the bitter end of the stick, he never left his childhood home in Gutters. As an adult, he made the choice to remain with his parents and grow the family business,” Beharie revealed, describing him as one who valued character over pedigree.
Meanwhile, officiating Anglican minister the Rev Lorraine GeddesMcDonald said that the deceased’s last word to her was that he would like to see more dialogue in church instead of a cleric preaching to the congregation.
“Today, I will honour his wish by having a conversation,” she said, reading from St John 20 to frame her resurrection message.
“Mary had a conversation with Christ, who had just risen from the dead. As long as we die in Christ, we will meet again . ... On that morning, as long as we love Him, we can say, like Thomas when he touch the Lord, ‘My Lord, my God’.”
Mears is survived by his wife, Dalia, and their two sons, Michael and Rudyard Jr.