Members of the athletic community, friends and those who considered him family, said their farewells on Thursday, 4 Nov. to Cayman Islands’ athletics pioneer Gerald ‘Jerry’ Harper, known simply as ‘Coach’.
The longtime educator, coach and volunteer, who passed away on Sunday, 24 Oct., was laid to rest at Prospect Cemetery after a funeral service held at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex.
Among those paying respects was Sports Minister Bernie Bush, who told the Cayman Compass that Harper’s passion and “viable contributions” have been felt throughout the Cayman Islands since he first arrived in the early 1970s.
“I know he can hold his head high; his family can hold their head high. He touched many lives and, at the end of the day, I think each individual would want to know that they left a mark when they leave this earth,” Bush said. “I am happy that we were able to arrange something for him because he gave everything, and he loved this island.”
Tributes offered during the ceremony included remarks from the Cayman Islands Olympic Committee, newly appointed Cayman Islands Athletic Association president Delroy Murray, and Cabinet Minister Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, who reflected on her days as an athlete under the guidance of Harper.
O’Connor-Connolly spoke of when she would train with Harper on “the Cayman Brac asphalt” and how it was because of ‘coach’ that she was the first from her family to attend university.
“He surely is the greatest athletic human being I have ever met,” O’Connor-Connolly said during her speech.
In 2018, Harper was honoured on National Heroes Day as a pioneer in sports. And in 2012, upon receiving his Certificate and Badge of Honour, Harper was quoted as saying, “I have been very pleased with the accomplishments of my students and athletes, both academically and athletically, wherever I have been privileged to serve”.
Murray said Harper’s nearly five decades of service to the Cayman Islands are unmatched.
“Jerry’s contribution to the sport of athletics in this country is unrivalled and he’s likely to be unrivalled for many years to come,” Murray told the Compass following the funeral service.
He added that the passing of Harper is “sad but he ran a good race, and the race is now at an end for him, and it’s just for us now to pick up the baton from where he has left it”.
Bush said that the CIAA will be honouring Harper in some way, perhaps through “a yearly award for coach of the year, called ‘the Jerry Harper award’, or maybe a track meet”.
He added, “There will be something. We’re not sure yet but there will be something. We are giving Jerry his respect.”
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