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Coach Lennox Ellis and Faith Harper saying goodbye to Leroy Harper.

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Pallbearers taking the body of the late Leroy Harper out of the church.

Goodbye Leroy Harper

 

ON a bright but sombre morning, family and friends met to remember and celebrate the life of Leroy ‘Ricky’ Harper at the Western Light Nazarene Church, yesterday.

Ricky, as he was affectionately known by his family and close friends and Harper by his professional associates, was indeed one of a kind. Speaking on behalf of the family, his sister Donna Harper-Nicholls delivered the eulogy. Firstly, Harper-Nicholls expressed thanks to family, extended family and friends who had taken the time to send well wishes during the family’s time of bereavement and welcomed the family who had flown in from overseas. Harper leaves behind his wife Faith, and four children – Russell, Anneris, Latrell and Leon.
 
Remembering Harper from the time of his birth, his sister recalled that he immediately made an impact on the family, being blessed with a white patch of hair from day one. As a result, Harper could not escape the nicknames such as ‘Patchy’ and ‘Apache’, which he embraced. This was a sign of things to come and represented the uniqueness of Harper, showing how special he was.
 
Raised by a single mother, due to their father emigrating in order to provide a better life for his children, Harper and his two siblings were encouraged to make education a priority in life. His sister went on to explain that Harper also knew he was special and did not disappoint, going on to exhibit exceptional abilities in personality and intellect. She described her brother as reliable, loving and conscientious with a passion for his children, family, friends, computers, photography, sports and chess. His love for chess led him to not only play the game at Harrison College, but coach it as well.
 
His love for sports was deep and with a special place in his heart for track and field, Harper became a stalwart in the creation of databases for major track events such as the National Senior Games, the Barbados Relay Fair and the Barbados Secondary Schools’ Athletics Competition. Harper’s impact on raising the level of professionalism of the sport of athletics in Barbados was tremendous. Using his knowledge of photography and computers, Harper could be seen meticulously working his magic in meet-management as ‘Chief’ of the Photo-finish team under the timing system tent at the National Stadium. So good was his ability to lead, that one of the members of his team stated that “Leroy was the template for how to make a good team great”.
 
Described also as a ‘servant-leader’, who was always willing to serve but could take the reins just as easily, Harper was loved and admired by his children. All of them were able to follow his good examples and find their own passions in life. Russell became the sportsman while Anneris became a photographer. As an educator, Harper developed a close relationship with students from the Coleridge and Parry School and the St. Leonard’s Girls. He worked tirelessly with public and private school students who were preparing for the CXC examinations in an after-school programme.
 
Harper had recently rededicated his life to God and was attending the Bank Hall Church of the Nazarene. With his newly-made commitment to God, even the afflictions which he endured in the latter years of his life, could not hinder his love for sports. His love was not only for the sport of track and field, but also for the athletes and to see them grow to their fullest potential.
 
The athletics fraternity will mourn this great loss for years to come, for when it came to professionalism and innovation, Leroy Harper was the light that shone on the track of the National Stadium. His example and legacy will live on in the hearts of many an athlete and lover of athletics always. Whether family or friend, student or co-worker, Harper was loved by many and his memory will be cherished.
 
Thank you Leroy ‘Ricky’ Harper.

Barbados Advocate

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