BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – MUSIC icon, entertainer, producer and music engineer Jeffery ‘Miles’ Brookes passed away sometime during this morning (May 28).
The sad event was confirmed by a relative to whom SKNVibes spoke and it is understood that he died while at his home in Newton Ground.
The music community across the Federation and further afield mourns Brookes’ death but remember the invaluable contribution he made to music in St. Kitts and Nevis.
A trained plumber, Brookes, who was about 59 years old and has been described as an extraordinarily-talented and consummate musician, was the leader, arranger, keyboardist and one of the lead vocalists of the hugely-popular Earth Tones Brass Band of the 70s and 80s.
The body of his work as an engineer and musician is vast and, although suffering a stroke in 2004/2005, his love for music propelled him to continue in the musical vein.
He produced many tracks and albums from his recording studio which was located at his home.
His death follows those of Frederick Gillard Sr. of Gillard’s Enterprises and Pastor Desmond Herbert Sr. of Fancy Loaf Bakery.
Pastor Herbert Sr. departed this life on May 18, 2013 while at the Joseph N. France General Hospital.
His first-born son, Pastor Desmond Herbert Jr., explained to this publication that his father had spent approximately two days at the medical institution before he passed away.
He further explained that his father is the founder of the Pastor Desmond Herbert Foundation, which was instituted in 2008, and the Caribbean Refuge Temple Church. The church, he said, began in 1985 in Mother Tyson’s home and transitioned to a building on Liverpool Row before moving into its then newly-constructed and commissioned tabernacle in the Camps area in 1992.
Pastor Herbert Sr. was also one of the driving forces behind the establishment of wholesale company Quality Trading Supplies which began in a building on the Bay Road but currently operates in Bird Rock.
He is most known for his bakery, Fancy Loaf Bakery. The pastry-driven business was established in 1975 in Westbourne Ghaut. It eventually moved into Bird Rock and an accompanying deli was established on Church Street, Basseterre.
Pastor Herbert Sr’s Home-going Service is scheduled to take place at the Caribbean Refuge Temple, Camps, at 3:00 p.m. on May 30, 2013.
Gillard’s passing took place during the morning of May 19, 2013 while he was at the JNF General Hospital.
He was a member of the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force and also the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force. After leaving the latter Force he became an entrepreneur, operating a supermarket, taxi and tours business and a Texaco gas station from Gillard’s Meadows, St. Peter’s.
SKNVibes understands that Gillard died having lost his battle with cancer and, according to his son Frederick Gillard Jr., he remembers his father as “a strong man. He had a very strong will and he concentrated on his family”.
Gillard would be laid to rest tomorrow (May 29) following a 3:00 p.m. Funeral Service at the St. George’s Anglican Church, Basseterre.
SKNVibes takes this opportunity to extend condolences to the families of these men.
