By FRANCIS JOSEPH
The body of the late Mighty Sparrow is here for the final resting place.
Sparrow, real name Slinger Francisco, died in New York on September 27. A memorial service was held in Queens last Sunday.
Last Friday in Parliament, Minister of Culture and Community Development, Michelle Benjamin, said Sparrow will be accorded a State-assisted funeral.
The casket bearing Sparrow’s body, arrived on Caribbean Airlines flight 521, which departed John F. Kennedy Airport in New York on Tuesday morning.
There was a buzz around Piarco International Airport when word got around that the Birdie’s body was coming on the next CAL flight. Workers at the airport got even more curious when they saw Minister of Culture and Community Development, Michelle Benjamin, arrive.
She was accompanied to the tarmac by Chairman of the Airports Authority, Aaron Henry, and one of Sparrow’s sons, Sancho, who missed the memorial service in New York on Sunday.
The flight eventually arrived at 11.53 am and within minutes, the casket bearing Sparrow’s remains, were removed from the aircraft and placed in a funeral home vehicle.
Government had set up a committee to plan the State-assisted funeral. Another meeting is being held on Wednesday following which the public will be informed where and when the funeral service for Sparrow will take place.
Sancho at the airport
The committee is in talks with the family of the calypso legend.
On Sunday, family, friends and fans gathered at Linden Seventh-day Adventist Church in Laurelton, Queens, for a memorial service. Tributes came from all around. His daughter Gina Francisco, paid tribute to her father on behalf of the 14 children. The Government was represented at the memorial service by Dr Neil Parsan, Trinidad and Tobago’s Ambassador to the United Nations.
Sparrow, 91, won the Calypso Monarch title eight times, the Road March, eight times, and the Calypso King of the World title on two occasions.
Sparrow received the nation’s highest honour, the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (ORTT) in 2012.
