Caribbean New York pays last respects to the Mighty Sparrow at Queens funeral
Hundreds attended the three-hour service in Laurelton as Trinidad and Tobago prepares a state-assisted funeral for the calypso king.
NEW YORK, United States. Members of New York's Caribbean community paid their last respects to the Mighty Sparrow on October 4 at a three-hour funeral service at Linden Seventh-day Adventist Church in Laurelton, Queens.
The calypso king, whose real name was Slinger Francisco, died in Queens on September 27, aged 91. He was baptised into the Seventh-day Adventist faith on September 12, 2022, at Far Rockaway Beach.
The government of Trinidad and Tobago has said it will assist the family with an official state funeral. Culture and Community Development Minister Michelle Benjamin told the House of Representatives that a committee had been set up to organise "a funeral fit for a legend", with the date yet to be fixed.
Despite rain, hundreds of Caribbean nationals joined dignitaries, elected officials and clergy at the service.
Tributes
Dr Neil Parsan, Trinidad and Tobago's ambassador to the United Nations, told mourners: "The Mighty Sparrow has left the stage, but his music remains."
Acting Trinidad and Tobago Consul General in New York Mary A. Tang Yew called his death "a tremendous loss to Trinidad and Tobago and the world."
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, the son of Grenadian immigrants, described Sparrow as "a giant" and presented the family with a citation.
Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, attending with her mother, Dr Una S.T. Clarke, the first Caribbean-born woman elected to the New York City Council, recalled that Sparrow sang her mother "into office." "He truly earned the title of Calypso King of the World," she said.
Andrew Maloney, the Vincentian-born chairman of the West Indian American Day Carnival Association, said Sparrow "would come (perform) for next to nothing. What Sparrow did for us, it was immeasurable."
Yves Joseph of the Haitian band Tabou Combo said: "Though he may gone, (he will) never be forgotten."
Keet "Designer" Styla sang "Born Free", and Mervyn "Dr Witty" Carter sang Sparrow's "Federation", written after the West Indies Federation dissolved on May 31, 1962. Calypso Rose sent condolences.
Sparrow's grandnephew, Dr Cory Marshall, delivered the homily. Mourners also included representatives of the Guyana Consulate, Patricia Chin of VP Records and former Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.
Michelle Francisco, one of his daughters, said: "His voice may be silent, but his legacy, his music, will live on."
