President The Most Honourable Jeffrey Bostic and Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley were joined by parliamentarians, senators, diplomats, members of the consular corps, senior figures in the Public Service, family and friends yesterday, in saying farewell to a man who gave 49 years of his life to public service in Barbados.
The official funeral for Erskine Griffith, who died September 8 at the age of 86, saw scores turning out at St Patrick’s Anglican Church in Christ Church, where Griffith was a lifetime member, for the two-hour service.
The late resident of Spring Farm, St Philip, served as a Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; a Leader of Public Business in the Senate; as Barbados’ first Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other international organisations in Geneva.
Delivering the eulogy on behalf of the family, Orville Wiltshire spoke about values such as “hard work, integrity, critical thinking, humility, respect for others and the community”, which were instilled in Griffith’s upbringing and which informed his professional life.
Educated at Modern High School, Griffith began his career as a clerical officer at the Government Industrial School in 1959, followed by stints at the Customs, Auditor General’s and the Accountant General’s departments and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
He joined the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs in 1973, where the eulogist said he “found his calling, serving finance for 27 years until the year 2000”.
Wiltshire also shared about Griffith’s academic exploits which saw him securing a bachelor of arts degree in economics and history, and a diploma in public administration from the University of the West Indies, and later, a master of science in financial studies from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.
Wiltshire said Griffith constantly sought out opportunities for continued education over the course his career, “to enhance his knowledge and ensure that he was bringing the most up-to-date ideas and implementations to his work on behalf of the country”.
Griffith served under six Ministers of Finance – the Barbados Labour Party’s Tom Adams, Sir Harold St John and Owen Arthur, and the Democratic Labour Party’s Errol Barrow, Sir Richard Haynes and Sir Lloyd Sandiford.
Wiltshire described Griffith as “an absolute professional”, noting that “in spite of staunch support for the Barbados Labour Party throughout his career, his balance was a testimony to his dedication to putting country before political affiliation.
Griffith’s service was recognised by Government in 1995 with the national award of the Gold Crown Of Merit.
His widow Winifred, to whom he had been married for 62 years, sat stoically as their sons, Dr Rean Griffith and Haydn Griffith, read
the lessons.
The service was conducted by rector of St Patrick’s, Reverend Nicholas Small-Warner, while the Rev. Angela Phillips delivered
the Homily.
Interment took place in St Patrick’s churchyard.
The post Griffith’s life of service lauded appeared first on nationnews.com.