Roger Greenidge and his sister Petrolene go through photos of elder brother Theophilus every day to recapture fond memories of him when he was alive.
Theophilus was involved in an accident with a bicycle while walking along a road in Melverton, St George, on Monday night. He succumbed to head injuries the following day in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The siblings said that their 67-year-old brother was a jovial person and shared whatever he had.
“He was a jokey and loving person and a hard worker,” said Roger. “We used to call him T for short and his friends called him ‘Sugar Stick’.
“He was a farm labourer in Canada in the late 1980s and he raised pigs, chickens, Black Belly sheep and turkeys,” Roger added.
He said that Theophilus was a generous man and shared with family whatever he reaped from the bounty of the golden apple, avocado, sugar apple and banana trees in his backyard.
Petrolene said Theophilus was always good with his hands and being a carpenter came natural to him. She said he had made arrangements to renovate her Drax Hall, St George wooden house two days before he passed.
“He wanted to repair the side door and do the rest piece by piece, so Saturday he wrote up the estimates and bought the door from the hardware store and other supplies.”
“He also used to like a lot of liming and though he was of retirement age, he used to help Roger build and maintain swimming pools.”
She recalled how she found out about Theophilus’ accident.
“Normally, he comes home in the 8 o’clock bus but I wasn’t seeing him and I was a little concerned. It was only when I checked the phone for missed calls that I saw my cousin had called me. When I returned the call he asked me if I didn’t hear that Theophilus got struck, but we had no idea how bad it was.”
Petrolene said when she and her family visited the hospital the next morning, medical personnel informed them that he had suffered severe head injuries and was in a coma.
When she called back after 11 p.m. she was told that he had passed away.
Theophilus, who lived a short distance from his siblings, had no children.
When contacted, police public relations officer Acting Inspector Roland Cobbler said they were investigating the incident, which occurred around 7:10 p.m. on Monday.
He made a plea for anyone with information on it to contact the District “B” (Boarded Hall) Police Station. (SB)
