Music mourns

Gospel fraternity, friends, fans pay tribute to Craig C

Kerri-Anne Walker, Contributor

In what may be described as a solemn ceremony, the thanksgiving service for the life of beloved gospel artiste Collin 'Craig C' Chambers was held at the Portmore United Church, Bridgeport, on Saturday.

Friends, church members, co-workers and other well-wishers turned out to give their support to the grieving family.

That family lost Craig C two weeks ago in a botched robbery. More than 1,000 persons were in attendance and proved too much for the tents equipped with chairs, speakers and flat screen TVs, which were provided in anticipation of the turnout. There was standing room only.

The service - streamed live on the Internet - began with very moving tributes, which continued for a full two hours. Tributes came from the young and young at heart alike, among them, the Duhaney Park Primary School and Shandel Nelson.

Snapshots, Nelson's poem, was beautifully written.

"Sitting, reminiscing, going back to a time ... where we would sit, joke around, u know ... jus lyme

Thought about what I'd say in this moment as I say goodbye

So I figured I would look at some pics, to get the thoughts flowing in my mind

Opened up my album, only for me to find

With all the photos on Facebook and my computer ... there is none of you and I

No frozen moments printed on paper where life and lens align,

All that brings back memories are these snapshots in my mind"

Other tributes came from the Portmore United Youth and Young Adults' fellowships and from gospel artiste Trevan Clarke, who wrote a song called Crying Out, which he wrote to encourage Jennifer Chambers, the mother of the fallen gospel giant.

tribute from co-workers

Co-workers from the Scotiabank group also gave their tribute and spoke passionately of taking comfort in the knowledge that 'Craig C' was in a better place.

Members of the gospel music fraternity turned out in droves to pay their final respects to the man they called colleague and friend.

Among them were Dale 'Dizzle' Virgo, producer and friend, gospel artiste Garfield Reid and label mate Dwayne 'D.A.Jay' Jackson.

Virgo, who also served as one of the gospel DJ's pall-bearers, described losing one of his best friends as surreal, but was confident that Craig C's legacy would last forever.

"His music will live on as we will ensure that it lives on," he said.

Reid pointed out that he also had fond memories of the artiste and remembered him as "fun and always calm".

As the ceremony got under way, it became clear that though living 25 years too short, Collin 'Craig C' Chambers had touched many persons from all walks of life in a positive way.

The eulogy, delivered by Brother Roger Cogle (uncle of the deceased), was filled with precious memories and recounted the short but full life of a driven and determined young man.

The service was interrupted for a brief moment just before a tribute in song as family members were overcome with grief.

Before the proceedings were brought to a close, the Reverend Christopher Mason asked those present not to ask "why" such a tragedy was allowed to happen, but instead remember that "Craig did not die in vain and in his short life he accomplished a great deal".

Craig C was interred at the Meadowrest Memorial Gardens.