Rowley: Live your life like Lisa Morris-Julian

MINISTER in the Ministry of Education Lisa Morris-Julian was lovingly remembered at a memorial service at the ministry on December 17 by those people she had worked closest with every day.

About 200 ministry staff, plus several Cabinet ministers and representatives from the wider education sector met for a service under RC rites, most seemingly still in shock and disbelief at losing her.

Morris-Julian died tragically the day before in a fire that consumed the family home in Arima.

Two of her children, Xianne, 25, and Jesiah, six, were also killed in the blaze.

Her husband Daniel Julian remains hospitalised with burns.

With Fr Robert Christo officiating, colleagues mourned Morris-Julian with a combination of prayers, hymns, eulogies and musical tributes.

The Prime Minister urged everyone to emulate the life of Morris-Julian, who was also D'Abadie/O'Meara MP.

Earlier, Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly similarly said everyone should pray to live a life as meaningful as Morris-Julian's.

Dr Rowley recalled experiencing the deaths in office of former ministers Franklin Khan and Morris Marshall, but of Morris-Julian's sudden demise, he remarked, "I wasn't prepared for this."

"If we ever thought differently, now we have got the proof – tomorrow is promised to no one.

"If we accept that, then it might play a role in fashioning our behaviour in the days that we think we hold."

In empathy, he told mourners that if he said where he was right then, they would know he understood where they were.

"This is a tragedy that none of us could have anticipated or could have influenced in a different direction."

The PM said people belong to many different faiths and just have to hold on to what they believe in regarding their faith.

"Even as I speak to you now, I dread the day of the funeral, when I expect that it will all 'hang out' from all of us."

Rowley recalled last seeing Morris-Julian and her husband on Saturday at his Christmas function at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann's.

"I was never to know that was the last time I would be seeing the best representative in the Government of TT."

He related his wife Sharon Rowley had asked him on Monday morning if he had had heard Morris-Julian and her two children had died.

Later that morning, he had gone back to sleep, he said.

"I slept until 12 o'clock and I woke up, only to discover I was covered in tears. I didn't know when I was crying. I was covered in tears.

He said the loss of Morris-Julian could come close to making one question their faith and to wonder "How could this be?"

Rowley said, "Now we believe in the Almighty and that He knows best."

Saying Morris-Julian's passing brought lessons to all, he said her life showed public service was honourable.

"As the love and appreciation pour out for Lisa Morris-Julian, it says that in doing public service in the selfless way she has done it, public service in honourable."

Her service was valuable for the lives she had touched, the PM asserted.

"She had touched us in so many ways.

"We thank God for her life and we thank God for holding up her family in dealing with this absolutely awful development.

"To think of losing her and being told she may have been hugging her child to her chest as she passed away from the flames – those of you who have children, it is an assignment you would never want to have.

The PM urged, "Let us thank God and let us respect how good she was and ask ourselves if this country whether we too can be a little bit as good as she was, and this country would be better off."

Rowley described her as a gem.

"She was easy to work with, she was easy to live with. She was a community person, she was a tower of strength without any noise. Those of us who worked with her will always know she is gone too soon. May she rest in eternal peace."

Gadsby-Dolly said Morris-Julian had lived a selfless life, with a deep dedication to her family and to the nation's children.

Saying it was one of Morris-Julian's proudest-ever moments to join the ministry, the minister said the two women had worked together heart and soul.

As the mother of a young child, Morris-Julian had rightly asked to oversee the ministry's early childhood care and education (ECCE) portfolio, the minister recalled.

She recalled that while Morris-Julian seemed quiet, she was always on top of things.

"Lisa knew all the information. Very quiet and unassuming-looking, but trust me, she was at the pulse of everything.

"I am definitely going to miss Lisa. As someone said to me, she came here to do what she had to do, and she did it."

Gadsby-Dolly said the fact of the memorial service being so positive and heartfelt and the fact of the whole of Arima attending the scene of the tragedy was a true tribute to how many people were touched by Morris-Julian.

"It was seen by some to be a life that was too short, but God knows best and He is in control. We thank Him for sending us Lisa.

"All we can do is pray that our lives are as purposeful and useful and valuable as Lisa lived hers."

Acting permanent secretary Simone Williams quoted Nobel laureate Derek Walcott saying, "Break a vase, and the love that reassembles the fragments is stronger than that which took its symmetry for granted when it was whole."

She said, "In moments of profound loss, it is really the love and shared memories that bring people together in strength."

Williams said while Morris-Julian's tenure was too brief, it was marked by her passion for education, commitment to service and a heart overflowing with kindness.

Even before ministerial office, Morris-Julian had touched countless lives as an English teacher at Arima Central and Barataria South Secondary Schools.

Williams said Morris-Julian believed the heart of a nation was its children and that every child deserved the right tools and encouragement to reach their full potential.

"Her motherly duties were a responsibility she carried with great determination until the very end.

"May we find solace in the memories we shared with her and be inspired by her example of humility, service and love."

Student Support Services Division (SSSD) head Dr Ayinka Nurse-Carrington hailed Morris-Julian for her unwavering support for undertakings such as a Morvant-Laventille community project.

Saying the late minister had helped her to navigate the ministry, she related, "When the tears fall, she was there with me too."

Nurse-Carrington said, "I say to her family, Lisa was a great person, a great woman. She will always live in our heart and we at the SSSD will always remember her."

Also paying tribute were MIC chairman Prof Clem Imbert, Division of Educational Research and Evaluation head Kamini Bhagaloo and Morris-Julian's personal secretary Brittany Pierre.