ERROL Williams, the Bermuda-based film director and producer, has been laid to rest. That is to say his mortal remains, following a celebration of his life service at the Anglican Cathedral in Hamilton a week ago. However, tributes continue to pour in from several quarters to his family from friends and admirers who have become aware with shock of his sudden passing a fortnight ago at age 56.

Our photo (right) taken at the wake in the Dr. E.F. Gordon Memorial Hall of the Bermuda Industrial Union, shows some of the many family and friends who came to Bermuda to join local mourners for the last rites. Among them his mother Mrs. Joyce Williams, fourth from left in the middle row.

In a moving tribute to her son, Mrs. Williams, whose husband Oscar is deceased, reflected: “Errol was a premature and tiny baby, born October 30, 1951 in a remote village called the Wakapoa Mission in Guyana.

“He was not expected to live more than a few days. However, the Almighty God gave him to me and my husband as a miraculous gift, also to his siblings Colleen, Maureen, Ewart and Gavin.

“I am very thankful for the 55 years I was blessed to share my life with this wonderful gift of my first son,” Mrs. Williams stated.

Her reflections were read for her to the packed congregation at the Cathedral, which included Premier Ewart Brown, other Cabinet Ministers of the Cabinet and Opposition Leader Michael Dunkley.

The service was conducted by Anglican Bishop Ewen Ratteray. The eulogy was by Rev. Dr. Kingsley Tweed, who flew from his home in London the day before the funeral.

In Guyana, Errol attended Anna Regina Secondary School on the Essequibo coast but graduated from Charleston Secondary School in the capital Georgetown.

Joyce and Oscar Williams migrated with their family to Canada in 1969. They lived in Fredericton, New Brunswick. In 1970 Errol enrolled at the University of New Brunswick where he completed his first degree. He later attended Queen’s University and earned a second degree, a Bachelor of Education, and later a master’s degree in Education from the University of Ottawa.

It was at Queen’s University that his Bermuda connections commenced, with students from the island also attending. His career in Bermuda began in 1976, teaching at the then Robert Crawford School, later at Northlands Secondary, then Sandys Secondary and finally at CedarBridge Academy.

He quickly gained the love and respect of many friends, and eventually retired from teaching to further his earlier love of writing and filmmaking.

Shortly after his arrival in Bermuda, Errol met Sandra A. Barstowe. They married in 1984 and were blessed with a daughter, Kitwana.

Both gave touching tributes during the two-hour-long service. Other tributes were from Ayo Johnson, a Sierra Leone-born former journalist, now executive officer of the Human Rights Commission, whose mother is Bermudian.

Ayo first met Errol 17 years ago, and they developed what he called a golden friendship, along with another journalist friend, Cathy Stovell and business partner Rotimi MartinsK>More than a dozen movies are listed in Errol’s filmograpy. They include Driood,<$> in 1988, about an ageing Caribbean man who accepts an invitation from his grandson to seek a better life in Canada. In 1989, A Darker Side about a committed South African striving to continue the struggle of his brothers and sisters while in exile in ada. A Parable in Black and White<$>, 1993, examined the breath and nature of prejudice as seen through the eyes of two hobos, one black and one white. Echoes in the Rink, 199tells The Willie O’Rees Story, the man who became the first black hockey player in the National Hockey League.It was his 2001 documentary, When Voices Rise, about the Theatre Boycott in Bermuda, that led to the beginning of the end of officially sanctioned racial segregation in public places in Bermuda, the film that earned him his local acclaim.

It featured among others, the Rev. Tweed, the militant labour leader who energised the boycott with his oratory. That documentary led to next, Walking on a Sea of Glass, 2006, about the life story of the Rev. Tweed, who by then was a minister of the AME Church in London.

Financing for the latter two documentaries was underwritten by Rev. Tweed’s friend, William (Billy) Williams.

When he was unable to come to Bermuda to pay tribute to Errol, by virtue of his being in Alaska, he sent his wife Laura to deputise for him. She was applauded when asked during Rev. Tweed’s eulogy to stand and take a bow. Mrs. Williams returned to California the day after the funeral. Meanwhile, the Bermuda National Gallery, as a tribute to Errol Williams, has been showing the well-known painting on the 1959 theatre boycott by Bermudian artist Robert Barritt in its upstairs gallery at Hamilton City Hall.

A BNG spokesperson said: “Errol’s films are his legacy to Bermuda and it is a tragedy that we will not have the opportunity to see where he was going to take us next.

“The least we can do is to share his legacy, ensuring future generations in Bermuda learn our history.”

BNG will also show the 70-minute When ces Rise<$> on Tuesday, August 7, at the gallery at 6 p.m. as a further tribute. Admission to the movie will be free, but donations may be made for a scholarship fund for Errol’s daughter Kitwana.

In the meantime, BNG has for sale at its reception desk videos of the film, and a DVD will be available soon.

Our pictures show the cortege (top) of Errol Williams being led from the Cathedral by Bishop Ewen Ratteray and Rev. Dr. Kingsley Tweed. Below are family and friends at the wake at the BIU following interment at St. John’s Church, Pembroke. From the left, front row, are Errol’s ex-wife Sandra Williams, daughter Kitwana and niece. Middle row are aunts Sybil Narain and Iris Kilkenny; close friend Georgina Hill; mother Joyce Williams, aunt Eileen Narain; niece Keesha Williams’ friend Carolyn Campbell. Back row are brother-in-law Reggie Garmon; sister Colleen Williams; cousins Molly Valium and Art Williams; brothers Ewart and Gavin Williams; uncle Imthurn Narain; friends Brian White, Leslie Saltus-Evans and Chris Campbell; cousin Valance Williams and friends Ronald Lightbourne and Ayo Johnson.

Eric Williams was in Russia when news reached him of his brother’s death. He took flights lasting a total of 50 hours by way of South Africa and New York to get to Bermuda for the funeral.