MR. KEITH SELBOURNE OLIVER JUNE 3, 1942 - MAY 29, 1987
BELOVED SON OF MRS. VIDA MAUD HALSTEAD HARRISON AND STEPSON OF MR. SAMUEL LEOPOLD HARRISON; AND SON OF THEOPHILUS OLIVER, HUSBAND; BROTHER; UNCLE; BEST FRIEND OF MR. D. BROWN; GRANDFATHER OF SIX; GREAT GRANDFATHER AND FATHER OF FOUR. LOVER OF MUSIC, AND BEAUTIFUL MACHINES!
KEITH WAS BORN IN THE RURAL COMMUNITY OF BARTONS, ST CATHERINE ON THE ISLAND OF JAMAICA ON JUNE 3, 1942. KEITH WAS REARED WITH LOTS OF LOVE FROM A LARGE EXTENDED FAMILY. HE LOVED HIS PARENTS, HIS FAMILY, HIS FRIENDS, AND EVERYONE HE ENCOUNTERED IN JAMAICA LOVED HIM.
KEITH SUFFERED FROM MENTAL ILLNESS AND BECAME SYMPTOMATIC SOME TIME AFTER HE EMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN NINETEEN SEVENTY (1970) AT THE AGE OF TWENTY-SEVEN (27). KEITH'S FAMILY BELIEVES HE DIED OF A BIT OF SHAME ABOUT HIS ILLNESS, LONELINESS, SADNESS, AND A BROKEN HEART. ACCORDING TO HIS AUTOPSY, KEITH SUFFERED A FATAL HEART ATTACK. HE WAS ONLY FORTY-FOUR YEARS OLD. KEITH'S FAMILY IN THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AND THE UNITED KINGDOM SEARCHED TIRELESSLY FOR HIM FOR OVER TWENTY FIVE YEARS UNTIL HE WAS FOUND TO BE BURIED ON HEART ISLAND.
IN THE WEST INDIES, JAMAICANS OBSERVE MANY LOCAL CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS; SEVERAL RITUALS ARE COMMONPLACED SURROUNDING THE DEATHS AND BURIALS OF OUR LOVED ONES. TRADITIONALLY, LANDOWNING FAMILIES SUCH AS KEITH'S HAVE THEIR OWN FAMILY PLOTS WHERE GENERATIONS ARE INTERRED; AN UNMARKED GRAVE AND INTERNMENT IN A PAUPER'S FIELD IN DEATH, ARE THOUGHT TO BE DISHONORING AND ONE OF THE GREATEST INDIGNITIES AND A FATE MANY JAMAICANS LIVE THEIR LIVES TO AVOID.
DAD, YOUR CHILDREN MISS YOU MORE THAN THERE ARE WORDS TO EXPLAIN. THE PAIN OF YOUR ABSENCE DOES NOT GET EASIER. MENTAL ILLNESS IS A CRUEL DISEASE, MANY SUFFER ALONE AND AFRAID.
ALTHOUGH KEITH'S FAMILY SEARCHED FOR OVER TWENTY FIVE YEARS TO FIND HIM - AN ERROR, A MISPELLED LAST NAME BY THE NYC MEDICAL EXAMINER'S OFFICE, LED TO A FAILURE TO NOTIFY HIS FAMILY OF HIS DEATH.
KEITH'S MOM, DAD, AND STEP DAD GRIEVED OPENLY AND PAINFULLY FOR HIM AND WISHED WITHOUT FAIL UP UNTIL THEIR DEATHS DECADES LATER FOR HIS RETURN. MANY LOCALS FROM BARTONS AND OLD HARBOUR WHERE KEITH OWNED A HOME, LIVED AND WORKED WOULD SAY TO HIS FAMILY, KEITH GAAN A FAREN, AND HE JUST GAAN SO - GONE FROM EVERBODY THAT LOVED HIM.
DAD, IT WAS NOT OUR DESIRE TO HAVE YOU BURIED ON HART ISLAND, WE FREQUENTLY WEIGH THE CONSEQUENCES OF WHERE YOU LAY; SADLY, THE UNIVERSE HAS CONSPIRED WITH FORCES BEYOND OUR CONTROL TO MAKE THIS HEART-WRENCHING ISLAND YOUR RESTING PLACE FOR NOW. YOU ARE NO LONGER LOST OR ALONE.
REST IN PEACE DADDY, WE LOVE YOU INTO ETERNITY.