Service of Thanksgiving

Transcription

1 Service of Thanksgiving for the life of Frank Ellsworth Roulstone, Jr. July 10th, October 26th, 2017 Elmslie Memorial United Church Harbour Drive, George Town, Grand Cayman Friday November 3rd, 2017 Service at 3:00 pm Officiating Ministers Rt. Reverend L. Christopher Mason Dr. Randall Von Kanel Pianist: Antonio Sanchez Organist: Denver Bloomfield Interment at Garden of Reflections Cemetery, Old Prospect Road, Prospect

2 Order Of Service Opening Remarks and Prayer... Rt. Reverend L. Christopher Mason Congregational Hymn... Praise My Soul The King Of Heaven Scripture Reading: Psalms Katherine Bovre Obituary Written by Son, Frank Roulstone lll... Read by William Anthony (Tony) Mosley Tribute in Song from Daughter, Shirley... Even So by Mercy Me - Sung by Shirley Roulstone Message... Dr. Randall Von Kanel Tribute in Song from Sharon... Praise You In This Storm - Sung by Brianna Rodriguez Closing Congregational Hymn... Great Is Thy Faithfulness Closing Prayer... Dr. Randall Von Kanel Benediction... Rt. Reverend L. Christopher Mason PALL BEARERS Mr. Daniel Bennett Mr. Erik Bovre Mr. Victor Chin Mr. Gregory S. McTaggart Mr. Kent A. McTaggart Mr. James R. (Randy) Moore Mr. Frank Roulstone, lll Mr. Hunter E. Roulstone Mr. Albert Anderson Mr. David Bodden Mr. Norman Bodden OBE, JP Mr. Patrick Bodden Mr. Othneil Chamberlain Mr. Paul Commissiong Mr. Tony Connolly Mr. Dale Crighton Mr. Malcolm Davies Mr. Benson Ebanks OBE, JP (Ret.) Mr. Edroy Hydes HONOURARY PALL BEARERS Mr. John Jefferson, Snr. Mr. William H. (Bill) McTaggart Mr. Karl McTaggart Mr. Bo Michael Mr. Peter Milburn Mr. William A. (Tony) Mosley Mr. Albert R. (Rannie) Moore Mr. Colin Panton Capt. Ducan Phillips Mr. Peter Phillips Mr. James Rogers Mr. Paul Rogers Mr. Granville (Burns) Rutty Mr. Gary Rutty Mr. Clyde Smith Mr. Donald (Don) Smith Mr. Jessie Smith Mr. Ofield Smith Mr. Robert (Bobby) Thompson Mr. Kingsley (Ditto) Thompson Mr. Eugene (Gene) Thompson Mr. Graham Thompson GUEST BOOK ATTENDANTS Ms Thelda Hubbell Mrs. Judy Wight USHERS Ms Pamela G. Mosley Ms Joan McField

3 Praise My Soul The King Of Heaven Praise, my soul, the King of heaven, To his feet thy tribute bring; Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, Who like me his praise should sing? Alleluia! Alleluia! Praise the everlasting King. Praise him for his grace and favour To our fathers in distress; Praise him still the same as ever, Slow to chide, and swift to bless: Alleluia! Alleluia! Glorious in his faithfulness. Father-like, he tends and spares us, Well our feeble frame he knows; In his hands he gently bears us, Rescues us from all our foes: Alleluia! Alleluia! Widely as his mercy flows. Frail as summer s flower we flourish Blows the wind and it is gone; But while mortals rise and perish God endures unchanging on. Praise Him, Praise Him Praise the High Eternal One! Angels, help us to adore him; Ye behold him face to face; Sun and moon, bow down before him, Dwellers all in time and space: Alleluia! Alleluia! Praise with us the God of grace. Great Is Thy Faithfulness Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father! There is no shadow of turning with Thee Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not; As thou hast been Thou forever will be. Refrain: Great is Thy faithfulness, Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided Great is Thy faithfulness Lord unto me! Summer and winter, and spring-time and harvest Sun, moon and stars in their courses above Join with all nature in manifold witness To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! When We All Get To Heaven Sing the wondrous love of Jesus, Sing His mercy and His grace In the mansions bright and blessed, He ll prepare for us a place. When we all get to Heaven, What a day of rejoicing that will be When we all see Jesus, We ll sing and shout the victory! While we walk the pilgrim pathway, clouds will over-spread the sky But when traveling days are over, not a shadow, not a sigh. Let us then be true and faithful, trusting, serving every day Just one glimpse of Him in glory, will the toils of life repay. Onward to the prize before us! Soon His beauty we ll behold; Soon the pearly gates will open; We shall tread the streets of gold.

4 Obituary Of Frank Ellsworth Roulstone Jr. Frank Ellsworth Roulstone Jr. was born in Tampa, Florida on July 10th He was the only child of parents Frank Sr. and Dorothy Roulstone. Frank grew up with his parents and a loving grandmother, Fannie Roulstone, who lived in the home and helped care for Frank while his parents worked. Frank graduated from Hillsborough High School and then attended the University of Florida. He was then drafted into the United States Army and served in the Korean War. After being discharged in 1955 he made a visit to see his parents who had moved to George Town, Grand Cayman a few years earlier. Frank Sr. and Dorothy were running the Seaview Lodge and it was there he met front desk clerk, Cecily Elizabeth McTaggart. Frank s 2 week vacation became his new life. In1956 Frank visited Fred and Cecily McTaggart to get their blessings for a marriage. Gran (Cecily) informed him the answer was NO, but he could come again when Beth was 21! Frank and Beth were married in George Town on December 23rd 1957, 17 days after Beth s 21st birthday! Frank and Beth then lived in Tampa while Frank attended the University of Tampa to finish his education, returning to Cayman in Frank never left his adopted home again. Frank and Beth soon started their family. Shirley was born in 1960, Sharon in 1961 and Frank III in The family lived at the corner of South Church St. and Melmac Ave, right across from Seaview Hotel. Frank operated a watersports business from the hotel and provided fishing, snorkeling and glass-bottomed boat excursions for Seaview guests. The business enlisted the help of many in the community including the West Bay captains for North Sound boat trips and the South Sound community for fishing. There are many wonderful stories, too many for now, involving the wonderful people who, through this endeavor, became a part of the extended Roulstone family. Late one night Beth awoke to the sound of waves pounding on the ironshore. A Nor wester had come in and the Buenaventura was anchored behind Seaview. Frank s dad was sick with the flu, so at 2am Beth volunteered to help Frank get the boat to safety in South Sound. The seas were already ferocious and the first challenge was the ride from the ironshore to the boat anchored off shore. As the waves lifted the skiff up to the edge of the shore Frank yelled jump! and Beth was on her way. After barely making it through the rough seas with Beth on the bow looking for pan shoals and the South Sound cay with a flashlight, and after persisting through the constant threat of drowning, she lovingly convinced him to take a safer and more stable career path. Frank joined the fledgling Weather Service in 1961 and in 1965, the family moved in to the old government hospital on Elgin Avenue which is now the home of Immigration. It was truly a neighborhood with the Reverend John and Mary Gray on the left, Mrs. Johnson on the right, the Archer family across the street in a grove of Guinep trees, where the Glass House now stands, and Ormond and Naomi Panton and family across and to the right. In 1967, Frank was transferred to Fort Worth, Texas for on the job training with the National Weather Service. The family returned to Grand Cayman a year later and Beth began working as a reservation clerk for Cayman Airways. Seaview Hotel was sold in Frank s children attended Triple C School which was conveniently next door. Whenever parents were late picking up their children they always knew where to find them- right next door at Frank and Beth s. The house was the central point of the neighborhood. When Beth s sister, Grace, lost her husband leaving her with 2 young children, Frank took a special love for Tony and Pam and they were included as part of the family. Frank was the first Chief Meteorological Officer of the newly formed Cooperative Upper Air Station and one of his responsibilities was keeping the weather station on Swan Island supplied with everything they needed. Everything, and I do mean everything, had to be flown in. Parts and supplies were shipped to Grand Cayman but all the foodstuffs including perishables were purchased on Island for the twice monthly airlift to Swan. The people of Swan Island depended on this lifeline and the plane was always full. The flights brought together a number of close friendships including Spencer Bennett, Ranny Moore, Vincent Chin, Horace Kelly, John Jefferson Sr., Captains Donald and Harry Glidden, Norman Smith and their families. At the Cooperative Upper Air Station, Frank had a fully Caymanian staff of women who remained faithful staff members up until his retirement. Included were Alice Anderson, Polly Thompson, Lillimae Bodden, Helen Hislop, Sharon Ebanks, Kadie Ebanks and Gilda Panton. The employees at the weather station all became part of an extended family and remain friends of the family to this day. Whenever Frank travelled he did not return without gifts for his girls. The team took hourly observations and transmitted the information to all relevant agencies including Air Traffic Control. They also prepared and launched two balloons daily which measured meteorological data from the surface to the life of the instruments well into the atmosphere. For this work he received recognition in 2011 as a Pioneer in Aviation by the Cayman Islands Government. For almost the entirety of Frank s career, his station won the annual National Weather Service s Best in the Caribbean award, well- earned due to the meticulous detail of his work. Frank was not just famous for being the Weatherman. In the late1950 s he was instrumental in organizing the first of many Christmas parties for underprivileged children. He contacted Joyce Hylton and she supplied a list

5 of children who otherwise would not receive a gift at Christmas. The party was held each year in the Town Hall with a Christmas tree and Santa Claus along with whatever entertainment could be found. Frank was loved and respected from early on for his love for his community. This event evolved into the Santa Clause Parade he helped organize throughout the 1960 s and 70 s. Santa Clause, usually Maurice Muse, a clown, usually Graham Thompson, and a fairy, usually Mary Gray, Carla Reid or Shirley Roulstone would fly to Swan to give out gifts to the few children there. Returning to Owen Roberts to a crowd, Santa would distribute gifts to children from the list supplied by Joyce Hylton. There was candy from the clown for all! The parade then wound its way along Shedden Road ending in downtown George Town. One of Frank s favourite traditions was the arrival at midnight on Christmas Eve of the Marchers. Accompanied by a few instruments and singing their hearts out, the merry-making group would serenade the family until Frank delivered a bottle or two of overproof rum. They would then break in to a chant of three cheers for Mr. Frank Roulstone and move on to the next house. The kids were terrified by this annual tradition but Frank made them stay up so they could experience this part of Cayman s culture. Preserving Cayman s culture was something else that was very important to him. The family fondly remembers Frank as a jokester and have many laughs each time they get together remembering his hilarious antics like when he tried to show the kids how to roll on a barrel and he ended up rolling right under the car and almost killed himself! He also had a love for technology and gadgets, in particular, clocks and watches of which he amassed quite a collection! He was also a fan of eye glasses and frequently was seen wearing several pairs at the same time! One was always hanging around his neck like a bib and it served to catch any crumbs that missed his mouth! Even as toddlers the grandchildren would offer to clean his glasses! Beth describes Frank as a humble and very generous man and sometimes had to gently tell him Frank remember you have 3 children of your own to raise. When help was needed never mind the hour or the crisis, Frank could be called on to pitch in. As the weatherman, Frank was at his best when storms threatened and the word needed to go out to the community. Frank would then enlist the help of any one he could find to get the latest information down to Radio Cayman and would send others to check the tide. The weather station would be packed with people anxious to know what was going on. His humble demeanor was a comfort to those whose lives and livelihoods were at risk. The US Government supplied movies for the entertainment of staff on the isolated post of Swan Island. The ever Techy Frank purchased a projector so his family could watch the movies at home, but quickly set up seating in the garage so that neighbors could watch the movies with us in comfort rather than through the louvered windows of the living room! This was a welcome perk to a community without radio or television. For many years Frank was an active member of the Rotary Club. He was also an active part of the informal airport posse that met regularly in the Runaway bar. Ms. Maisy s juicy hamburgers and the skills of bartender Andy Martin kept the group well taken care of. Despite the informal nature of the gathering, many great ideas and political decisions had their roots among this diverse group. Frank had an incredible wealth of knowledge and he loved to share it. He seemed to use everything as a teaching moment. Sharon recalls him taking the kids to Barkers one night where, without light pollution, they could see the faint orange glow on the horizon of the cane fields being burned in Cuba. Frank used that rare moment to teach his children about communism and the plight of the people in Cuba. He would use the abundance of stray dogs to teach about the importance of kindness to animals, even allowing the children to bring home a couple, his favourite of which was Bouzer. Frank loved the sky and spent endless amounts of time teaching about clouds, constellations and even different types of aircraft. All of his children now have this habit of looking up, always searching the skies to see something of which their father may have taught them. In 1987 Frank retired from the weather service and he and Beth settled in to their tourism accommodation business they started earlier on Boggy Sand Road, West Bay. Of course the guests of the Roulstones were absorbed into the family and many of the original guests still return faithfully every year. In 2006, Frank s health began to take a turn for the worse. This greatly upset his established daily routine of visiting Benson s gas station, Republix, the Post Office and A L Thompsons sometimes several times a day! Eventually Frank s illness got the better of him and he became bedridden for the last 7 years of his life. Lovingly cared for by Beth and a staff of helpers including Rose Johnson (deceased), Audrey Gordon, Monica Hussey and Shaggy Autur, Frank eventually succumbed to his illness on October 26, 2017 appropriately surrounded by his entire family in his home on Boggy Sand Road. In addition to a legacy of love for his community, Frank leaves behind his wife of almost 60 years Beth, 3 children Shirley, Sharon and Frank; 3 grandchildren Hayley Roulstone, Katherine Bovre and Hunter Roulstone; sisters in law Josie Knox and Grace Hurst; 1st cousins Nancy Michael, Carol Rogers and Joanne Fuentes and his special nephew and niece Tony and Pam Mosley along with a host of other relatives and friends. He will be greatly missed and forever loved by many. May he rest now in eternal peace until we meet again.

6 Tribute From Cleo Moore and Family Bye My Dear Friend This is to say Goodbye to my dear friend Frank. He was a dear friend to my family and we loved him and will never forget him. We also know that he loved all of us. We will cherish the wonderful memories. When our family lived in Swan Island and we needed anything all we had to do was call Frankie and he was there to give his time and assistance. Whenever we travelled to Swan Island Frank would let us stay at the Weather Station instead of sitting in the airport to wait for boarding. During those times he would hold my babies and play with them to keep them entertained and happy. He always complimented me on how well-mannered the children were. I will personally never forget the time I was very ill and had to be flown to Jamaica for urgent medical attention. Frank called daily to check on me so he could also let me family know how I was doing as the only communication was by radio to Swan Island. He also assured me all would be well and I would soon be home. My family and I cannot thank Frankie enough for his caring and loving ways. God also gave Frankie a loving wife and kids. Mrs. Beth is also a loving and caring person. May God bless them all. Beth, Shirley, Sharon, and Frank lll you were all blessed to have this good man in your lives. May God bless his soul. Love you Frank. With all our love from one of your Swan Island families, Cleo, Randolph, Rannilee, Randy, Roylee, Roseta and Rebecca Moore

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8 Graveside Service Prayer and Scripture Reading... Dr. Randall Von Kanel Hymn... When We All Get To Heaven Committal... Dr. Randall Von Kanel Tribute in Song from Caregivers... I ll Just Say Yes by Brian Courtney Wilson - Sung by Monica Hussey Hymn... It Is Well With My Soul Benediction... Rt. Reverend L. Christopher Mason The Congregation is invited to visit with the family while the vault is being sealed. It Is Well With My Soul When peace like a river attendeth my way; When sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say It is well, it is well with my soul. Refrain: It is well with my soul It is well, it is well, with my soul. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come; Let this blest assurance control, That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, and hath shed His own blood for my soul. My sin... Oh the joy of this glorious thought; My sin, not in part, but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Bless the Lord, bless the Lord, Oh my soul. And Lord haste the day when the faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll, The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend. Even so it is well with my soul. The Roulstone Family wish to sincerely thank each of you who have kept us in your prayers and visited faithfully all through Frank s extended illness. We thank all those who have called, sent messages, visited, fed us, and otherwise comforted us with your outpouring of love since his passing. We cannot say thank you enough to his wonderful caregivers, Audrey Gordon, Monica Hussey, and Shaggy Autur who have loved and cared for him day and night, many times with very little sleep, as if he was one of their own. Special thanks also to Dr. Christian, Nurse Liz, Nurse Davis and the entire team at the West Bay Clinic. We wish to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts also to our amazing Hospice Nurses who were truly our earth angels during these last weeks, Nurse Heather Huizinga, Nurse Elizabeth Dikau, and Nurse Jo-Anne Merodon. We are truly humbled and thankful for each one of you. In remembrance of Frank Ellsworth Roulstone, Jr. we ask that you consider making a donation to Cayman HospiceCare today and whenever you are able to do so.