By Nelson A. King
More than 500 Vincentian nationals paid their last respects to Vincentian masman and football (soccer) pioneer Sam DeBique, who died on March 15. He was 79.
In 2012, DeBique was diagnosed with a heart condition, “and his health deteriorated as years went by,” according to his obituary read at the funeral service, at St. Gabriel’s Episcopal (Anglican) Church on Hawthorne Street in Brooklyn, by DeBique’s cousin, Omari Williams, Deputy Ambassador at the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Mourners paid tribute to DeBique in songs, hymns, steelpan, speeches, poems, scriptures and dance, among others.
After attending the Kingstown Anglican School, DeBique pursued a career in printing, working at the country’s Government Printing Office in the capital.
In 1966, DeBique migrated to New York and continued working in the printing business, gaining employment at, among others, Dover Publishing and Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital, from where he retired.
Renowned as a masman, DeBique was not only a masquerader but also a carnival band organiser, dating back to 1957 in his native land, according to the obituary.
“His love for carnival was sustained in Brooklyn, where he was instrumental in bringing mas to life, for Brooklyn’s annual Labor Day Parade, through bands like Caribbean Festive Associates, which was formed in his living room, and Mas Productions [Unlimited], formed by him and his cousin, Wesley Millington,” the obituary said.
It said DeBique was one of St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ sporting icons, founding the legendary Notre Dame Football [Soccer] Club that dominated soccer in the nation in the 1960s and ‘70s.
“He captained the team to numerous victories until he migrated to the United States of America,” the obituary said, adding that DeBique’s love for sports “led him to join the Flambeau Cricket Team in Brooklyn, which was captained by one of his dear friends, the late Cadman Marksman.”
DeBique is succeeded by, among others, Adelle, of 45 years of marriage; children Jacqui, Ruez, Damon and Nassor; three grandchildren Kefira, Monique and Imani; sisters Gloria, Miranda, Joycelyn and Ermine; and brothers Raymond, Vin, Lennox and Alfred.
He was interred on Monday at the Canarsie Cemetery in Brooklyn. Caribbean Life News
