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Former Minister of Labour, Sports, Education and Public Sector Reform Rudolf “Kappi” Greenidge died suddenly on Friday morning.
Greenidge, who had been MP for St Philip North for ten years and served as deputy president of the Senate, had celebrated Emancipation Day on Thursday evening, as he often did, by attending a fair held by his beloved St Catherine’s Sporting and Social Club, of which he had been president. He died unexpectedly the next morning.
He was awarded the Order of the Republic for his outstanding contribution to education at home and abroad, and for his many years of loyal and exemplary service to sports, civic and public life, and national development.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley expressed deep condolences over the former MP’s death in a statement released this afternoon.
“I was deeply saddened to learn today of the passing of my dear friend and former Cabinet and Parliamentary colleague, Rudolph “Kappy” Greenidge. Kappy was truly a gentle giant – a man who respected his friends and foes alike, who never raised his voice in anger and never let a foul word escape his lips. He was the epitome of a traditional Barbadian country man and the consummate “Filipino” who was born in Maryville, raised in Maryville and, as fate would have it, passed away as a resident of Maryville.
Those of us who had the privilege of working with him as a Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament knew that Cappy was a gentleman and he expected your actions and words to reflect that when you were in his presence. It was clear to me early on, as Member of Parliament for St Philip North from 1994 to 2003, that his manners were the product of his upbringing and the teaching profession in which he began his career.
He taught at Princess Margaret School, St Leonard’s Boys’ School and St George’s School, as well as in the Turks and Caicos and Cayman Islands before moving to Jamaica in 1983 to teach at the Norman Manley Law School.
When I said above that Cappy represented the outstanding values of a rural Barbadian, there was one overarching fact that stuck with me. He respected and obeyed his parents. I was told that his mother, Elma Clarke – affectionately known in the area as “Nana” – constantly stressed to him that he should never let laws or politics change him. That is exactly how he lived – a gentleman until the very end. From Minister of Labour to Minister of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports and later Deputy President of the Senate, Cappy was never tainted by grudges or anything of the sort.
Moreover, whether he was a proud cricketer at St Catherine’s or sitting in the chair of the club’s president, his actions reflected his mother’s admonition that he should never be defined by law or politics. He was awarded the Order of the Republic in 2021 for his outstanding contribution to education at home and abroad and for his years of dedicated and exemplary service to sports, civic and public life and national development, which he deserved.
It is an honour to stand alongside Rudolph “Cappy” Greenidge and on behalf of the Government and people of Barbados, I extend my sincere condolences to his brothers Carlisle and Henderson, sisters Eleanor and Cecil, children Nadia and Clive and other family members. He leaves behind a record of which you all can be proud. In keeping with his status as a former Member of Parliament, a formal funeral will be held for him at a date to be announced in consultation with his family. May his soul rest in peace.”
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