The following is an excerpt of a tribute to the late Hon. Justice Neville Clarke, C.D. by his son, Nigel Clarke.
Fortis cadere, cedere non protest. The brave may fall but never yield.
THESE WORDS characterised my father in life and in death.
From very early in my own life, I can recall the unsolicited recitals of this very powerful assertion, delivered with pride and conviction, as he believed passionately in its every word.
That last slide, with Victor Rhone and Churchill Neita, taken a mere 7 days before he passed, is representative of his sense of humour and his indomitable spirit. Facing certain and imminent transition to a higher plane, there he sat shadow boxing, as if to remind us that the match is never over until the bell rings!
Like any admirer of sport my father treasured, celebrated and took great pride in achievement - of any kind. Those of you who knew him well will be familiar with the pride with which he spoke of his children and anything - not matter how insignificant any had done. But what many of you might not know is that to us, he spoke about the achievement of others.
One of his proudest moments, however, was when my sister was selected as valedictorian for the UWI Mona graduating class of 1998.
The preparation of her speech spoke volumes about the type of person and father he was. He is extremely precise with language and does not appreciate errors of pronunciation, grammar or spelling which happen from time to time.
So when Roxanne prepared her speech and read it for him in
the living room, it took her 10 minutes to get past "Ladies and Gentlemen..."
We resided in Bluefields, a quiet town, and lived in a lovely house with very generous space, several coconut trees and every other fruit tree imaginable. The best part of the house though was that it had its own long private beach and the property almost seemed to rise dramatically out of the sea.
As a family we have fond memories of our time there. Having no neighbours in the traditional sense, no television reception, hardly any radio reception we bonded as a family during those years.
On the trip to Black River about which occurred six weeks before he died, we ventured to Westmoreland the following day stopped, at the border to buy fish and went by a beach to eat. We parked under a lovely mango tree and when we were done I climbed up unto the large protruding root of a cotton tree and with a loud voice started my rendition of Shakespeare:
"There is a tide in the affairs of men which when taken at the flood leads on to fortune"
Not to be outdone my father made his way on top of the makeshift platform under the mango tree and he continued...
"Omitted all the voyage of their life is bound in shallow and in miseries. On such a sea are we now afloat and we must take the current when it serves or lose our ventures."
He was at his theatrical best; he had his soapbox and an audience. We continued competing with each other taking turns to recite well known Shakespeare stanzas, my mother watching in amusement, the sea breeze blowing hard threatening to remove us from our respective platforms.
After exchanging lines for some time I ran out, and with a pleased look on his face he asked "You done?." I nodded and he smiled knowing that he had won and said , "I have one more", and under that mango tree by the sea, six weeks before he died, his thin frame seemed to expand as he said with passion:
"Cowards die many times before their deaths:
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear,
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come."
With that he descended from his platform.
For everything we perceive in this room, every object and every being, had a beginning and will have an end. My father's end on this earth has come as he has run his final quarter mile. Down the homestretch he came, on his toes, knees raised on every stride, arms bent 90 degrees at the elbow and powered from the shoulders, head high, as he pressed toward that mark. He finished the course; he kept the faith. Now there is in store for him a 'crown of righteousness'.
It is therefore with a heart of gratitude that today, on behalf of my family, I salute him, I honour him, I thank him, and, above all, I thank God for providing us with such a gem of a human being for a father and husband.
Neville St. Elmo Clarke we love you and we always will.
