No formal service to commemorate Oliver Clarke, says daughter

Announcing that there will be no formal service to commemorate her father’s death, Alexandra Clarke has expressed sincere gratitude to all who have memorialised the media giant and joked that based on all the tributes, she was raised by an undercover celebrity.

Oliver Clarke passed away at his home last Saturday night at the age of 75. 

He had been battling cancer.

Alexandra said the decision against a formal service was made a while back, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the feeling that an alternative function was not necessary for her family’s personal closure.

However, sharing that she never expected the copious amount of tributes, she said she and her mother are thankful for the well-wishes.

Alexandra also hailed her father for his brutally dry humour, which she said he used to converse deeply and sincerely with anyone, whether it was his close companion or a stranger.

 WATCH: Picture this ... Remembering Oliver Clarke

She shared that in his will, he expressed that she lives in Jamaica, even though her mother pointed out that the request could not be legally upheld.

But Alexandra says she has a budding desire to live her life in service of her country, even if she will do it more tattooed, with more piercings and wearing far more casual office attire than her father might have hoped for.

Here's an excerpt of Alexandra's three-page tribute:

So many people over the last few days have memorialised my father and spoken about their relationships with him, and done so incredibly beautifully. He worked so hard, and he was proud of the accolades he received. However, here I am in the wake of his death wondering if it was an undercover celebrity who raised me. Because, of course, these do not accurately reflect the man I knew - my dad. 

I am deeply impacted by all the people who have thanked my mom and me for “sharing” my father with them. I wish to thank all of you for sharing my dad with me. His family at The Gleaner, and at JN, was also my own.

Our (and his) staff who have been in and out of our home, are my relatives. He was an incredibly business-minded man, and his way of showing affection to others was often through figuring out how to help, or how to teach. He found raw emotions challenging.

If I called him crying from abroad, he would rush to find my mum. Yet still, he was exceptionally persevering and always willing to try and try again.

Throughout the last couple of years, he was amusingly intentional about hugging and holding me as much as possible, in response to my teasing him that he wasn’t a 'hugging parent' during my childhood.

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