Aspiring air hostess, golf caddie and their father laid to rest
By Shirley Thomas
AT the home of the Thomas’ family, loud wails erupted when at around 11:25 h, three hearses slowly rolled up and the coffins were lifted into the yard and placed under a canopy for viewing.

They bore the three family members of those who were gunned down by the marauding gang which passed through Track A Lusignan last Saturday evening.

RELATIVES and friends of the Thomas family walk with the coffins to the final place of rest.

Those slain from the home: Clarence Herman Thomas,48, the head of the home, his only daughter Vanessa,12, and his young son Ron, 11.

DEEP ANGUISH: Gomattie and her son Mark, who was in the hinterland when the tragedy occurred, weep at the funeral service of their loved ones yesterday.

Family members screamed and fainted as the coffins, one by one, were hoisted and taken up the fragile stairway onto the upper floor of the home and in the room where they were all shot on the fateful day.

But incredibly, the widow - Gomattie Puran Thomas, 45 - remained strong throughout. Gomattie, a woman of faith, and an ardent member of the Lusignan Assembly of God Church, continued to demonstrate great strength, courage and fortitude.

A relative of the Thomas’ faints at the funeral service of the father and his two children.

She had shivered behind a curtain as refuge while the gunmen blasted the life out of her beloved husband, her daughter who had dreams of becoming an air-hostess, and her son, who was hoping to move on from just being a golf caddie to greater things for himself in the sport.

Pastor Rev. Ernest Martin, of the Lusignan Church, commended Gomattie’s faith and trust in God, and the remarkable way in which she has been holding up. He admonished her to continue to “wait upon the Lord who will renew your strength.”

The eulogy was read by Bertille Thomas, a relative of the Thomas family. Of the deceased he said: “They touched our lives in a dramatic fashion.” And Pastor Ram took pride in mentioning what a wonderful man Clarence Thomas was.

He added that Vanessa, also called Michelle, helped in the Sunday School Department and Ron also assisted in Church-related business as well.

He revealed that Clarence, who hailed from Wakapao, Pomeroon had moved to Lusignan in 1984 and married to Gomattie, also known as ‘Baby’. She came to the village from Mahaicony. Their February 24, 1985 union which produced five children – Howard, Mark, Vanessa, Ron and Roberto - was cut short one month ahead of its 23rd anniversary.

Clarence worked as a carpenter, but he was good in the electrical field as well. But in his latter days, he became well known for diving for gold and antiques in many rivers of Guyana.

“He was very hard working and dedicated to his family and his work,” Bertille said. Clarence Thomas who, in recent years suffered a stroke, worked as the bread winner of his family. He farmed his kitchen garden which augmented his income.

Despite his condition, he defended his family to his death, as on the night the gunmen invaded their home, Thomas was said to have braced it from behind, trying to keep the men out. However, they overpowered him, barged in, and shot the five, killing three.

His eldest son Howard, watched on helplessly from where he was hiding under his bed. He was wounded in the arm and had to be hospitalised.

Vanessa, shot and killed in her sleep, was born on May 12, 1995, educated at the Lusignan Nursery and Primary and later the Bladen Hall Multilateral School to the time of her death.

She was described as one who “grew up in Church”, and was ever present in Sunday School. Along with that, she had “a pleasant smile, a very quiet and gentle spirit.”

Ron whom the gunmen shot several times with high powered rifles was preparing for the Grade Six exams with hopes of moving on to secondary school.

Reverend Ernest Martin, who delivered a message, stated passionately in his opening sentences: “We are all in shock. We just can’t understand. It is hard to be understood.” He said many of us are still asking questions, and have every right to be offended.

He admonished the sorrowing relatives, in the midst of adversity, to “Tell it to Jesus”.

Friday, February 01, 2008