D.K. Duncan, Jeanette Grant-Woodham get official services
THE LATE former government minister in the 1970s, Dr D.K. Duncan, will be accorded an official service. The approval was granted by Cabinet earlier this month.
Dr Duncan, who served as minister of national mobilisation and human resources between1977 and 1980, made his contribution to public life in a career spanning some 45 years.
He first served as member of parliament for St Andrew East Central from 1976 to 1980. He also served as member of parliament for Hanover Eastern from 2007 to 2016. The former minister was conferred with the Order of Distinction, Commander Class, in recognition of his contribution to the Electoral Commission. He died on September 17, 2020, at the age of 80.
The official service for Dr Duncan will be held on Sunday, October 25, at the University Chapel i n Mona, Kingston. The service of thanksgiving will be restricted to programme participants and family members, and a private interment will follow.
In the meantime, a condolence book will be opened for the former minister at the Houses of Parliament on October 20, now temporarily housed at the Jamaica Conference Centre, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Also, the Cabinet has approved an official service for the late former President of the Senate, Jeanette Grant-Woodham. She died on September 7 at the age of 82.
Grant-Woodham has given years of exceptional service to the public sector and civil society in Jamaica and has been lauded as a trailblazing educator and parliamentarian by her peers and by the Government of Jamaica with her investiture into the Order of Distinction, Officer Class.
She was appointed to the Senate, where she served from 1980 to 1989. She was subsequently elected deputy president and then elevated to the position of president of the Senate. She served in the distinguished role of president from 19841986 as the first female to be elected to that position. She was appointed minister of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Industry in 1986. She was also the first female to serve in this capacity.
Private arrangements to memorialise the former Senate president have been made by her family.