Wife: Don’t let his death be in vain

CAROL MATROO

IT was not a farewell, but a rejoicing and celebration of life as family and friends of deep-sea diver Chevonne Bartholomew praised him for his dedication to the Lord and his family. Bartholomew, 37, disappeared while investigating an oil tanker in Chaguaramas on January 29.

His body was recovered on February 15, on her son’s Zion’s birthday. He turned 12 that day.

Bartholomew was sent to his final resting place yesterday after a service at Faith Assembly International Church, Five Rivers Junction, Arouca. His body was buried at the Valencia Cemetery.

His wife Pete-Ann said her husband was strong mentally and physically and was accountable by choice.

“Trusting him was easy and loving him was easier,” she said.

Bartholomew’s life as a diver was a hard one, Pete-Ann admitted, where he was sometimes asked to go on the most dangerous jobs. He did it without hesitation.

However, she again made a call for the unification of divers to be their brothers’ keepers and call for an end to commercial scuba diving which, she said, was dangerous.

“It is not about taking bread out of your mouths. This was about ensuring that your wives, children and families are protected and not seeing the same fate as Chevonne. We do not want Chevonne’s death to go in vain,” Pete-Ann said.

Bartholomew’s mother Joanna said her son gave his life to Christ at age nine, before her, and stood by his stance.

“No primary, secondary or university could call me and say Chevonne was causing trouble. ‘Yeah mammy’. I will always hear that until the day I die. I may boast about my son, but my son deserves to be boasted about,” Joanna said.

His sister Candace Bartholomew-Mc Queen described him as a person of distinction, who always thought about others first, while his other sister Velda Bethelmy-Gentle said he left them a legacy of excellence to follow.

“He never settled for mediocrity, he always settled for the best, and he settled for Pete-Ann. He died in the line of duty, he died a hero... a young man with an excellent spirit and an infectious laugh,” she said.

Dem Boys, a crew of young men who spent many years with Bartholomew, brought his spirit to the congregation, reminiscing about their failed fishing trips and roads that led to nowhere.