Rootsman (Yafeu Oesi) was a good painter and competent wood-carver, but lived his dream to become a calypsonian.
So said his sister Brenda Smart in delivering the eulogy at the funeral service celebrating his life held at the Pentecostal LightHouse Tabernacle on Second Street, San Juan yesterday morning.
Rootsman, 64, died at his Morvant home last week Friday from complications associated with diabetes.
“As a child he was a brilliant student, but could give back-chat left, right, and centre,” said Smart. “But from small his heart was set on becoming a calypsonian, and he lived that dream until it became a reality.”
Before a large congregation consisting of calypsonians, musicians, promoters, and other members of the entertainment fraternity, Smart’s discourse, delivered with deep passion and punctuated with pockets of humour, revealed glimpses into the life of a boy born in Tobago who grew up and went to school in San Juan, and whose father wanted him to become a lawyer.
“Our father apprenticed him to a law firm, but he walked off the job just after one month,” said Smart. “He knew it was not what he wanted to do.”
Attendees heard how, as a child, he once became lost between San Juan and Diego Martin; of his generosity in giving away to friends clothes be bought on his foreign travels; and of the impulsive calls to his sister offering to take her to lunch when, according to her, “he did not have one black cent in his pocket.”
Smart said her brother so loved the calypso art form that she estimated he had performed in every calypso tent in Trinidad and Tobago.
Offering a tribute song was Rootsman’s brother Brent Smart. He said while Miami Vibes and Rack Me Rack Me were among the popular songs for which Rootsman would be remembered, the song he (Rootsman) loved best of all was Live Nice. He proceeded to deliver a verse and chorus of the selection with the packed congregation joining in to form the chorus group.
Condolences from Miami Broward Carnival on Rootsman’s passing were read by former national calypso monarch Duane O’Connor, while church elder Francis Solozano delivered the sermon, the theme of which was Life After Death.
Following the almost two-hour-long service, Rootsman’s body was laid to rest in the San Juan Public Cemetery.