Former sprint champion Elton Jefford laid to rest

Nov 08, 2008 Sports

Pallbearers leave the Redeemer Lutheran Church to place the body of the late Elton Jefford into the hearse following a service yesterday.

Scores of people turned out to witness the funeral of former national sprint champion Elton Jefford who was laid to rest yesterday.

Among those in attendance were his immediate family, relatives, friends, present and former athletes, the Honourable Minister of Culture, Youth & Sport Dr. Frank Anthony, Director of Sport Neil Kumar, Parliamentary Secretary Steve Ninvalle, National Sports Commission Chairman Conrad Plummer, Athletic Association of Guyana President Claude Blackmore and members of staff of the Ministry of Education where he worked until his demise.

Jefford succumbed at the Georgetown Public Hospital after suffering from medical complications.
He was 48 years old at the time and leaves to mourn his wife of 25 years Paula and seven children Emmerson of St. Maarten, Edison of Kaieteur News, Elton jnr., Erica, Kiswana, Elvern and Ezra.

Kaieteur News staffer Edison Jefford (with sun glasses) and his brother Emmerson contemplate their future responsibilities after losing their best friend and guide.

Several tributes were paid to Elton during the service at the Redeemer Lutheran Church at Sheriff and Pike Streets, Campbellville, which saw the large gathering spilling out into the church yard.

Many of his friends reminisced on his life, as far back as childhood in the Berbice River and Kwakwani, speaking of him on and off the track. His talent and natural ability as an athlete were among their main topics.