Anthony Foster, Freelance WriterFAMILY AND friends of former Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA) president Adrian Wallace said their final farewell at a thanksgiving service held at Stella Maris Church on Shortwood Road yesterday.
Minister of Local Government, Community Development and Sports, Portia Simpson Miller, and Derrick Smith, Opposition Spoken on National Security, headed the visitors backed up by hundreds of Calabar past students, JAAA officials and GraceKennedy workers.
President of the Commonwealth Games Federation and head of the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) Mike Fennell, who delivered one of many tributes, said Wallace left an indelible mark on the sport.
"During his years as a director of the JOA it was always a pleasure to work with him. He could always be called upon," said Fennell.
"Also he demonstrated a level of determination," he added.
Douglas Orane, president and CEO of GraceKennedy, described Wallace, who started out at GraceKennedy in 1982 as a financial controller, as a loving person.
"He would always find time to involve himself with the staff," Orane said.
ALWAYS GAVE OF HIS BEST
"He was kind-hearted, compassionate, generous and always gave of his best. We at GraceKennedy remembered the joy of Adrian," he said.
Though she was unable to attend, many-time national 400m champion Sandie Richards sent her tribute, which was read by Ed Barnes.
"Those athletes who knew him know he was more than just a president of the JAAA. He took on the role as counsellor and a father figure," Richards' tribute read.
"He was never too busy to listen when I had a problem and he always had my best interests at heart.
"With him gone, myself and other athletes have lost a great man," the tribute stated.
Other dignitaries packed into the church included IAAF area representative Teddy McCook, JAAA president Howard Aris, former JAAA president Pat Anderson, JOA vice president and Caribbean Football Union senior vice president Captain Horace Burrell, Olympians Dennis Johnson, Brigitte Foster-Hylton, and Aleen Bailey, along with top local coaches Glen Mills and Stephen Francis.
