tidings
Corey Connelly
The funeral for Rawle “Axeback” Titus on Tuesday was a celebration of his decades-long career in education and culture in Tobago.
Titus’ far-reaching influence was evident in the large gathering of mourners who filled a section of the Shaw Park Cultural Complex to honor his work and legacy.
Titus, 80, died Jan. 2 at Scarborough General Hospital. He would have turned 81 on January 24.
Among those who attended the four-hour service were Chief Secretary Farley Augustine and other members of the THA executive, Minority Leader Kelvon Morris, Councilor Petal Daniel-Benoit and PNM Senator Laurence Hislop.
Also present were TUCO President Ainsley King, Tobago Festivals Commission CEO John Arnold and members of several cultural groups that Titus had formed over the years.
Rev Sonia Whitlock, pastor of Mt Pleasant-based Sanctuary Tabernacle of Praise and Worship, opened the service with a rendition of What A Friend We Have In Jesus. She later sang Hear My Cry, Goodbye World, I Stay No Longer With You and When Jesus Says Yes, Nobody Can’t Say No, among others.
Young Speyside arranger Joshua Jerry and another panist, Steel Sensation, delighted the audience with one of Titus’ compositions, Keeping The Dream Alive.
Titus’ friend Alvin Pierre performed How Great Thou Art and a Donnie Mc Clurkin classic, Stand.
Calypsonian Giselle Fraser-Washington, who also paid tribute to Titus, told mourners that he had been an important part of her life for the past 16 years.
She sang an emotional version of gospel song He’ll Do It Again before breaking down in tears with her second selection, Plenty, Plenty Ole Talk, which she couldn’t finish.
Titus wrote Plenty, Plenty Ole Talk for Fraser-Washington for TUCO’s Carnival Monarch Contest in Tobago last October. She placed third in the competition.
Mt Paran Spiritual Baptist Church and Delaford Youth Wing, in separate presentations, performed the Lord’s Prayer.
On Monday evening, several cultural groups and friends and family of Titus gathered outside the Shaw Park Cultural Complex for his wake. Charlotteville Heritage performers led the singing of hymns and carols. There were also performances by calypsonians and bamboo dancing by Les Coteaux Folklore Performers.
