The Andrea we knew - Co-workers, friends, in-law hail Lowe-Garwood

WESTERN BUREAU:

While most persons are still in shock over the brutal murder of 50-year-old Andrea Lowe-Garwood, who was shot as she worshipped in her Trelawny church on Sunday, based on stories circulating that she was short-changing her in-laws, questions are now being raised as to whether or not she contributed to her own demise.

However, in speaking to co-workers, friends, her church colleagues, and some family members, they all said she was a good person with a great heart who did not deserve to die the way she did.

Stewart Barnes, branch manager at the Fairview branch of National Commercial Bank (NCB) in Montego Bay, where Lowe-Garwood worked for several years as regional credit card manager, said she was easily one of the most dedicated and hard-working members of the staff.

“She was a celebrity within herself, in the way she approached her work … she was one of those persons who could not relate to mediocre work. Excellence was her thing,” said Barnes. “Even in terms of how she deals with her customers, people knew her more as Andrea, even though her name is Lowe-Garwood.”

“Over the years, she would have met and worked with people who would have just started their business, right up until they had big stores and branches, and so she had that respect, and that is why it impacted the community so much,” added Barnes.

According to Barnes, Lowe-Garwood, who was with the bank for over 20 years, was looked to by her colleagues for guidance as she was seen as a repository of information. He said she was sadly missed as she was widely considered by her co-workers as “the life of the party”.

Outside of her work environment, Lowe-Garwood was viewed as the ideal friend. According to Dawn Henry, secretary of the Agape Christian Fellowship Church, where the late banker was murdered, she was quite friendly and constantly exuded professionalism.

GREAT FRIENDSHIP

“I met Andrea about two years ago and for the better part of the last year, we developed a great friendship. She was a very outstanding person and an ardent member of the group … a real go-getter, and a person that was very proactive,” said Henry.

“Andrea was the kind of person that you could always give a task that would be completed with a level of professionalism. Wherever she was, she created a kind of energy, it doesn’t matter what kind of mood you are in, she could change your day,” continued Henry.

According to Henry, after Lowe-Garwood’s husband died in a car accident some six months ago, she went through a period of therapy and she would share her information with them at the church as a part of her healing.

“She had a lot of plans, she loved life … very entertaining, very engaging in whatever situation she was in love with. It is very heart-rendering to be speaking about Andrea in this kind of setting, but she has left a legacy with me, and also with us here at Agape Christian Fellowship,” added Henry.

Hugh Garwood, the brother of Lowe-Garwood’s late husband, Jeffery Garwood, and uncle to one of the men accused of plotting her murder, told The Gleaner that he knows Andrea but not very well as she lived in Trelawny, while he resides in Hanover.

“She come here (his home) several times wid mi brother, and mi nuh se anything wrong wid har,” said Garwood.

“A seven brother a wi, an’ three a dem dead, including Jeffery, who is the fifth brother. Him married two times an mi know him two wife dem, but di story behind what a tek place wid him family, mi nuh know much ‘bout dat,” continued Garwood.

“Mi hear the report ‘bout him son (his nephew) and is a very sad case, but mi can’t comment much pon dat, because Jeffery is a big man an mi don’t know how him did map out him ting wid him youth dem, and his house,” Garwood added.

Meanwhile, detectives said they have not yet laid criminal charges against any of the men taken into custody in regard to the murder, including the alleged shooter who turned himself in at the Freeport Police Station in Montego Bay on Monday.