2013-Oct-03-1740Hrs
Hello Errol,
Here’s a short tribute to my roommate, Eugene St Hilaire, for this week’s blog.
Thanks, and my sincerest condolences to his family.
Selwyn Jacob (63-65)
KILLER - Roommate for Life
Only in Trinidad, maybe only in Mausica, could you take a word like Killer and turn it into a loveable and loving name. Back in Mausica – in those early pioneer days it was de rigeur to give a fellow student a nickname: Bally Marly, Progues, Dum Dum – to name a few. But Killer was unusual – it was taken from a comic strip featuring three apes: Killer, Old Baldy and Tola.
Killer was the name given to my roommate, Eugene St Hilaire, and he revelled in the uniqueness of that name, with his laughter, his joie de vivre and his killer personality.
We became friends when we both taught at Egypt Village Government School (Pt. Fortin) in 1962, & 1963. We entered Mausica Teachers’ College in 1963, and became roommates and friends forever. And since that time, we called one another – roommate - so much so that whenever my phone would ring at home over the past 40 plus years, my wife, who was not a Mausican, would calmly say, It’s your roommate.
Over the past 50 years I visited my roommate and his late wife, Suze, whenever I was in Trinidad. I became Godfather to his daughter, Arlene, and was a close friend of the family. During the recent Mausica reunion in Trinidad, Rick, Carol and I made a detour during the trip to South, so that we could visit Killer because he was unable to attend. It was the last time we had a “killer” visit.
Farewell roommate. I will miss our conversations and discussions about any and everything, and above all, your “killer” personality.
Your roommate.
Selwyn (aka Yacos)
Selwyn Jacob 65
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