THINGS THAT MATTER: Dearest friends, alas! must part

“Friends are forever, you might lose them but you'll never forget them.” (Anonymous)

Psalm 90, verse 10 of the Bible states: “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” Most folks are familiar with a simpler version: “Our lives last seventy years or, if we are strong, eighty years ...” And so, in the eighth decade, we say with a mixture of humour, sadness, perhaps anticipation and in many cases a liberal dose of fear of death: “We’re in the departure lounge …” And our human frailty is underscored by the departure of contemporaries – long-standing friends and sometimes “out of the blue”.

Two childhood friends have recently left this vale of tears. The first was a most remarkable man whose gentle humour and camaraderie concealed a rare genius – Brian Arthur Hart, alumnus of Harrison College. The second was one of the most brilliant Barbadian sportsmen ever – national goalkeeper Lloyd Sydney Seale, alumnus of The Lodge School. Barbadians readily understand why an Old Lodge Boy would single out this aspect of their lives, among so many other remarkable things!

Brian was our Sunday morning beach cricket friend, because he lived at Worthing, where Chicken Barn is now, while our family spent alternate Sundays at our grandmother’s house, Walwyn, where my Aunt Dorian Davis ran the Worthing Post Office from the corner of the front veranda and where RT’s Hardware is now. His obvious prowess at beach cricket matured into ominous fast bowling for Harrison College. But he was equally good at tennis and a legend at water polo. And thanks to his father’s unique curiosity and skills he came to share, as a boy, his skill with power tools and a rifle, and his extensive knowledge of astronomy.

But Brian was also a mathematical prodigy. He won the Barbados scholarship in 1964 (in those early days when there were only five each year, not 25 or 35, coming first. I gather he had the distinction, having to wait a year to enter Cambridge, of remaining at College as Head Boy, giving private math lessons, and even being chauffeured to Presentation College at Verdun in St. John to teach there. (From the “family eulogy”, compiled by his wife Janice, daughter Jamie and son Adam and read by Stephen Walcott.)

On returning from Cambridge Brian taught mathematics at his alma mater, where his skill at simplifying difficult concepts made him famous. In a few short years he produced more Barbados scholars in maths than any previous teacher. But he then made a career switch to land surveying. Further testimony to his brilliance came when he wrote the Land Surveyors exams. It’s rumoured that when they called to tell him that he’d gained full marks, they also thanked him “for so perfectly explaining a particularly knotty surveying principle that had long been problematic for them”. And his friend and colleague Anstey Scott, President of the Barbados Land Surveyors Association, gave one of the most brilliant short tributes I’ve ever had the privilege to hear, saying, among other things: “A few words will hardly do justice to the Measure of a Man we got to know so well. When the first electronic calculators arrived, followed by the first set of programmable calculators, Brian came into his own! He wrote programmes for these calculators; then had classes in programming for students and practising surveyors. PC’s came next! And Brian again wrote suites of programs for himself and colleagues to do all those fancy computations surveyors do! Some of this software is still used by some fellow surveyors today.

The next advance in the profession was the transition from measuring with chains and tapes to EDM – electronic distance measurement. Brian set up the first base on the pavement by the National Stadium for checking and calibration of EDM.

As we look at the legacy he’s left us, I want to touch on a major achievement – his design of the Barbados National Grid. This grid is a framework which allows for location of points on our map by means of a system of coordinates. Every cadastral survey done in this country must be tied to this system! I don’t yet know how to go about it, but just as the standard used for the determination of Mean Sea Level is named the Lamonte Datum, I would like to agitate that the Barbados National Grid be renamed the Hart National Grid of Barbados in his honour.”

Brian Hart – mathematical genius, Past President, Land Surveyors Association; examiner, legislative draftsman, IT specialist and programmer and a great deal more, in addition to his national sporting prowess, multiple skills and family man – a true Renaissance man.

Lloyd Seale grew up in St. John, where his father Hilton managed Bowmanston Plantation, now a ruin compliments of the scandal of CLICO. As children my brother John and I could traverse the track (a “line” in country Bajan parlance) between the cane fields from our home near Four Roads to Bowmanston. Growing up in the country he became the complete athlete and sportsman – winning the junior cross-country race and starring at cricket and football. He was a left hander and his hero from the age of 12 was Sir Gary – almost as soon as Sir Garfield Sobers emerged on the West Indies test scene, Lloyd emulated his style at the wicket and with the ball, even imitating his gait and his up-turned collar.

But Lloyd’s passion was football, especially goal-keeping. In that era, when Lodge, College and Combermere played in the first division, Lloyd got tremendous experience against the great national players of the day. The Lodge School Record (the school magazine) of 1961 said: “His brilliant performance “between the bars” rated him as one of the island’s best goalkeepers. Was awarded colours.” In 1961, at 17, he was the only schoolboy invited to try out for the Barbados national team, and he was selected to play for Barbados in 1962 at age 18, while still at school, to tour British Guiana. He was a spectacular goalie and played for Barbados for ten years until 1972.

In a brilliant and humorous eulogy his grandson Luke Delmas said: “He seemed to know everybody. They’d say ‘Lloydy boy, how you?’ and his response was always the same: ‘Poor, peaceful and polite.’ He used to get a silly grin on his face anytime someone mentioned his playing football. Those were obviously his glory days and he was very proud of them. He was a member of Carlton Club and many people remember him from that famous save against Chelsea in 1964 which resulted in a broken thumb.”

And he concluded: “Anyone who got close enough to our grandfather would have probably encountered, at one time or another, the Lloyd Seale temper, which occasionally was coupled with some rather colourful language. He wasn’t perfect, but he had a good heart and there were many occasions I saw him give people assistance or opportunities that really made a difference in their lives … What a legacy he’s left behind. He’s resting peacefully now knowing he did his best to equip all of us to take on the world.”

One final word: Bishop Gerry Seale gave the finest homily I’ve ever heard. How I wish all our priests would take lessons from him.

To Janice Hart, Jamie and Adam; and to Lloyd’s wife Laura May and their large family our deepest sympathy.

(Professor Fraser is Past Dean of Medical Sciences, UWI and Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Clinical Website: profhenryfraser.com)

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