Precious PatriciaBy CLINT CHAN TACK Friday, September 18 2009
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HIS voice choking with emotion, former president and prime minister Arthur NR Robinson yesterday said his wife Patricia was “extraordinarily precious” to him, his family and to Trinidad and Tobago.
Patricia Robinson, 79, died last week at her family’s home in Ellerslie Park in Maraval after suffering for years with Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes.
Seated in front of his wife’s casket during her funeral service at the Church of the Assumption, Maraval, Robinson told the congregation about the love story which he and Patricia shared for the last 48 years.
“I find it very difficult to speak of one so extraordinarily precious to me, my family and to some extent, the country,” Robinson said as he began his eulogy of his wife.
He remembered that it was before this country’s independence in 1962 that he met Patricia, “symbolically sitting at her desk in the Red House.” He was sent there “on a mission” by then Chief Minister Dr Eric Williams to prepare a case under the Pioneer Industry Ordinance.
Robinson said he met an old schoolmate, Eldon Warner, who told him there was a young student working at the Red House who had returned home from studying at Columbia University in New York. Warner told him the student was doing a thesis on the same matter he was interested in. “I asked to see her and from then, I came to know Patricia Rawlins,” Robinson said.
Fascinated by what Patricia told him, Robinson invited her to tea, so they could continue their conversation. The congregation laugh when he said,“I took her up Lady Chancellor Hill.”
Robinson said as “a lad from Tobago” he found Patricia “more and more interesting” as their relationship blossomed.
“As I came to know the young woman better, I became more fascinated by the attractiveness of her person,” he stated. He was also impressed with Patricia’s extensive knowledge about the country’s art, culture and politics.
So much so that when the PNM won the 1961 general elections and prime minister Dr Eric Williams appointed him finance minister, Robinson said, “I bestowed this information to the young lady who had now become my wife. I saw tears in her eyes.”
When he asked why she was crying, Patricia said it was because “she knew about the state of the finances of the country at the time.” In preparing his first budget as finance minister, Robinson recalled, “It was an enormous task. There were deficiencies all around. I considered even at that stage if it would be possible to continue.”
Patricia encouraged him to persevere, “buckled down and assisted” him in preparing the budget. “That was the first crisis we faced.”
Robinson said Patricia was instrumental in the negotiation of double taxation treaties which encouraged increased foreign investment in TT and legislation which strengthened the banking and insurance sectors.
“You will forgive me if I am somewhat extensive in my remarks. I know that the story has not been told. Patricia, my wife, made an enormous contribution in laying the financial foundation for establishing the independence of our country. May she be remembered for the contributions that she has made. May she rest in peace,” he concluded.
Caressing a gold necklace around her neck, Robinson’s granddaughter Anuskha told the congregation it belonged to Patricia.
She expressed regret she never got to know the woman her grandmother was before her illness. She hoped when she meets Patricia again in Heaven, “I will finally get to meet the woman that she was.”
Robinson’s daughter Ann-Margaret said instead of reading stories like “The Three Little Pigs” to her and brother David, their mother told them local stories such as the voyages of the La Borde family on their yacht Humming Bird III. “She was very proud of her country. I had a bad case of mummy-itis,” Ann-Margaret said.
David remembered his mother being “a beacon of hope” while his father was held hostage in the Red House during the attempted coup of July 27,1990. He said while Patricia did not know what the final outcome would be, “she spent her time comforting others.”
“She was indeed a noble woman,” David said.
President George Maxwell Richards, Prime Minister Patrick Manning, Chief Justice Ivor Archie, Tobago House of Assembly Chief Secretary Orville London, Speaker Barry Sinanan and Senate President Danny Montano headed the list of dignitaries who attended the service.
When he arrived at the church with his wife Hazel at 2.11 pm, Manning bowed respectfully in front of the casket before taking his seat. Retired Justice of Appeal Zainool Hosein played Johnny Mathis’ “Misty” on the harmonica at the end of the service. Patricia will be laid to rest in Tobago on Monday following an 11 am service at the Scarborough RC Church.
