Funeral services held for George Gabb, Belizean giant

The unions are threatening to strike, a powerful minister prepares to testify at the D.F.C. hearings, and Belizean women gather for a summit focussed on the pressing issue of domestic violence. But this afternoon the nation paused to remember a man whose influence will be felt long after those other events are forgotten. Janelle Chanona reports on the funeral of George Gabb.

Janelle Chanona, Reporting
This afternoon, family, friends and fans gathered at the Bliss Institute to pay their last respects to George Seymour Gabb, Belizean patriarch, patriot, and artist extraordinaire.

He was remembered by his daughter Deirdre in his poem the Sculptured Sculptor…

Deirdre Gabb Frampton, Daughter
“Be a ripple in the sea of eternity for in time there is none.
Only on the shores of infinity where blessed souls
Bathe themselves with countless shapes of sculptured water
and quench their thirst with the gladness of your coming. And Yea to find the echo that was once in my heart, now lives in my voice singing, shouting on that same seashore.
Take shape.
Make shape.
Time is no more. Goodbye D.”

By his cousin Dean for his inspiration…

Dean Lindo, Cousin
“George introduced me to a book which I think epitomises his life. If I remember correctly was entitled John Livingston Seagull. It tells the story of a humble seagull who wished to fly like the majestic eagle. He tried many times, during which he suffered bruises, pain, humiliation, what have you but he never gave up until one day he took to the sky and he took off like an eagle into the sky. As you speed on your way to higher heights, I bid you farewell, my cousin and my friend.”

By his friend Silvana in word…

Silvana Woods, Friend
“One time seh no put cart befo hawse. Todeh day the hawse no gat foot and the cart no gat wheel.”

Robyn Schaffer, SCA Student
“The meaning is: It is bad to do things backwards, but it is worse not to be able to do anything at all.”

Silvana Woods
“Politician promise dah like ripe mengo, look pretty but no gat long fu last.”

Robyn Schaffer
“Meaning: Politicians promises are soon forgotten.”

Silvana Woods
“To our idle youth he’d no doubt say: Fish noh need legs fu jump outta wata.”

Robyn Schaffer
“Meaning: You don’t need assistance for everything you do.”

Silvana Woods
“On Equality: Rain no fall just fu flowers garden only, eh fall fu sour grass to.”

Robyn Schaffer
“Meaning: Success is not only for the rich, it is also for the poor.”

Silvana Woods
“And then there gems that will forever stay as timeless statements of the Belizean psyche and world view: Gassip dah like Pine Ridge fiyah, haad fu stap, yu haffu lef ah sotay eh bun ehself out.”

Robyn Schaffer
“Meaning: There is some things we should leave to self-destruct.”

Silvana Woods
“And this one: Pipple weh done lass all deh teeth no wah no schooling pan toothbrush.”

Robyn Schaffer
“Meaning: Take time to learn only what can be beneficial to you.”

Silvana Woods
“A few years ago I was asked to present a brief tribute to George Gabb, the Gifted Giant as a publication from Factory Books has dubbed him. For George all of the arts are connected, so I asked him just what he thought was his most important contribution to Belize. You know he said, not hesitating for a single second, “Everybody know me best for sculpting, but I am convinced the most powerful artistic medium is the word.”

And as “Daddy” by his son, George Junior.

George Gabb Junior, Son
“I remember him recounting, no, telling the story of how he won a bicycle race with sheer determination and digging down so deep that as soon as he crossed the finish line he fell ova, brigiding boof. He neva have no mo. He no had no mo. It is with that same hunger that he attacked cycling, sailing, philosophy, and art; to him they were all the same. He was the solution looking for every problem. There was nothing small about him. I remember Daddy and his crew, including my cousin Swallow, entering the kite contest with a kite as tall as a house, needing multiple coconut trees fu hold it down. I remembering him coming home one night excited about a new concept, “Uncle Charlie can it be done, if we tun the dorey round and mek the back the front and the front de back nobody could beat it.” And no one did. I remember him creating the ultimate conch soup, the ultimate cow foot soup, the ultimate crepes, the ultimate anything, the ultimate nothing. His tools, his mind settling for nothing else but perfection. Who was George Seymour Gabb? He is the teacher, he is the poet, he is the sculptor, he is the brash Creole man from Belize in Heaven explaining to St. Peter that the pearly gates of Heaven would work better if the hinges were given more play and while training the Arch Angel Gabriel, tells him to tuck his wing at just the right moment to pick up at least twice the speed of light. … George Seymour Gabb, Daddy, pleasant journey and welcome home.”

George Gabb will be remembered in Belizean history books as a renowned sculptor and sportsman, playwright, poet and philosopher who up until his death last week was still expressing his unmatched talent. He and his son Tony were in the midst of revising Gabb’s Naked Eye. His last known verse was …

Silvana Woods
“I ask and you gave in essence; Dilute, unravel,
now I am a child,
forever.”

George Seymour Gabb, dead at seventy-nine.