From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
Paul L. Adderley given Hero’s Send-off in Nassau, Bahamas
By Lindsay Thompson, BIS
Oct 5, 2012 - 7:26:31 AM
The Coffin of the former Deputy to the Governor-General The Hon. Paul Lawrence Adderley being put on the Gun Carriage for the trip to the western Cemetery after the Service at Christ Church Cathedral September 28. (BIS Photo / Derek Smith)
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NASSAU, The Bahamas - The
Hon. Paul L. Adderley was given a hero’s send-off during a State Funeral
which reflected upon hi
s dedication to his profession and defending the
sovereignty of this country.
The Mass of the Resurrection was held at Christ Church
Cathedral on Friday, September 28, for the former Acting Governor-General,
Cabinet Minister and Parliamentarian, aired live over the national broadcast
station, ZNS.
His Excellency Sir Arthur Foulkes and Lady Foulkes
led the list of guests, which also included Cabinet Ministers, the Leader
of the Opposition Free National Movement, Members of Parliament, Members
of the Diplomatic Corps and other government officials.
Mr. Adderley’s body was interred at the Western
Cemetery, following the Last Post and Reveille, a 21-Gun Salute and
flag-bearing honour guards comprising officers of the Royal Bahamas
Police Force and Royal Bahamas Defence Force.
Mr. Adderley died at the Princess Margaret Hospital
on September 19. He was 84. He is survived by his wife Lilith
Rosena Adderley, and three daughters Dr. Catherine Adderley, Dr. Rosanne
Adderley and Paula Adderley, an attorney.
Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie acknowledged
the national hero as a loving husband and father, an outstanding historian
and one who sacrificed and serve the country with honour and distinction.
Governor-General Sir Arthur Foulkes greets the family of the late Paul Lawrence Adderley at the grave site in the Western Cemetery on Friday, September 28. (BIS Photo / Derek Smith)
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“Paul Lawrence Adderley, a founding father of the
modern Bahamas, defender of its sovereignty, patriot of the first rank,
exemplary servant of the people, outstanding minister of the government,
illustrious parliamentarian, sportsman, loving husband, devoted father,
proud citizen of the county he helped make.
“He served his country and its people to the very
best of his ability, doing so with complete integrity and shunning all
honours,” the Prime Minister said.
Paul Lawrence Adderley was born in Nassau on August
15, 1928, the second child of the Hon. Alfred Francis Adderley and Ethel
Millicent Louise Adderley (nee Lunn). His older bother Dr. Francis Adderley,
predeceased him.
He was educated at Mrs. Maude Wright’s Kindergarten
School, Government High School, St Catherine’s College, and University
of Cambridge where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree, a Bachelor
of Law degree and a Master of Arts degree. He was called to both the
English Bar and the Bahamas Bar in 1953.
He was revered as an extraordinary lawyer, having
excelled in criminal and civil law. Politically he first contested
the 1956 General Election as a candidate for the Western District, the
constituency formerly represented by his father the Hon. Alfred Francis
Adderley. In 1962 he was elected Deputy Leader of the Progressive
Liberal Party, and served as a delegate to the 1963 Constitutional talks
in London, which subsequently led to Independence.
Mr. Adderley left the PLP in 1965 following differences
of opinion on election strategies and together with others founded the
National Democratic Party (NDP), but it was unsuccessful in its electoral
bid in the historic 1967 General Election. In 1972 Mr. Adderley was
invited by Premier Lynden Pindling to rejoin the PLP and upon the country’s
attainment of Independence in 1973, he served as Attorney General until
1989, becoming the longest to serve in that post anywhere in the English-Speaking
Caribbean.
Mr. Adderley also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs,
National Security, Education and Finance. Following the PLP’s
defeat at the polls in 1992, he returned to private practice. Having
served as a Parliamentarian – House of Assembly and the Senate –
for more than 30 years, Mr. Adderley retired in 1997.
Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie pictured greeting Mrs. Lillith Adderley at the grave site during the interment of former Deputy to the Governor-General the Hon. Paul Lawrence Adderley, September 28. (BIS Photo / Derek Smith)
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However, he served in various capacities as advisor
to the PLP, as Co-chairman of the first Constitutional Review Commission,
as Deputy to the Governor-General and as Acting Governor General. He
was an avid sportsman and also served on the Bahamas Olympic Association
and the Bahamas Amateur Athletic Association. He loved the arts - photographing
Junkanoo, collecting stamps, reading and watching western movies.
The Prime Minister also recalled Mr. Adderley’s
heritage starting with the rich black land owner Alliday Adderley, a
liberated African; to William Campbell Adderley, the first black member
of the House of Assembly; then to Alfred Francis Adderley, his father
who is said to have accomplished all he had on merit, by brainpower,
spotless integrity and discipline in his pursuit of excellence.
“Believe me when I say that we cannot comprehend
who and what Paul Adderley was, or what he came to mean to the life
and times of our country over the course of his 84 years, nor can we
comprehend what the lessons of life hold for us now and for the children
of tomorrow unless we first realise that Paul himself understood that
there was a family tradition of excellence, of high accomplishment,
of sacrifice and of service that he had to live up to,” the Prime
Minister said.
According to the Prime Minister, the most singularly
convincing and poignant proof of Mr. Adderley’s patriotism would come
in the final years of his ministerial career as Minister of Finance.
“What few of us in the country appreciated at the
time were the heroic measures that Paul was obliged to take every day
to help keep the country afloat as it tossed about on the turbulent
waters of one of the worst recessions in years. To make matters worse,
there was a general election looming.
“He put country over party. He put statesmanship
over politics, declining to do things that might have helped make the
political prospects a little brighter for his party but which he knew
would definitely have made the financial situation for the country very
much worse.”
This, the Prime Minister said, Mr. Adderley did through
very difficult illness that many had no knowledge of.
“Most of us knew that he had a history of heart
problems but none of us ever knew about the cancer (bladder). He never
let on. He never complained about that or anything else. He just got
on with the job as he had always done.”
The mass was presided over by the Rt. Rev. Laish
Boyd, Bishop of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Also participating
were the Most Rev. Drexel Gomez, Assistant Bishop, Rev. Dwight
Bowe, Rector, The Parish of St. Mary the Virgin, The Very Rev. Patrick
Adderley, Dean of Nassau; Cannon Warren Rolle, Rev. Dr. Peter
Grist and Rev. Shazzasbazzar Turnquest.
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