Tues. Feb. 12, 2008: Former Guyana government minister, Deryck Milton Alexander Bernard, was laid to rest yesterday following a funeral service at the Trinity Methodist Church. Guyana Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Opposition leader of the Peoples National Congress/Reform party, Robert Corbin, paid tribute to the late minister, musician, author, and university lecturer.
The Prime Minister recalled that in preparing his tribute he was struck by the many educational and religious similarities he shared with the late son of the soil. We are of a generation whose vision was formed by the teachings and lives lived by parents and grandparents during the first half of the last century,` he stated. `I have noted that Deryck’s father was a teacher in the Methodist School system serving in various parts of Guyana and towards the end of his career serving at Kitty Methodist school… I can relate to this background myself having a grandmother and an uncle who were teachers.` Bernard died on Feb. 5 at the age of 57 after suffering a heart attack.
He served as the minister of education from January 1986 to October 1992 under the Peoples National Congress government and held several portfolios, including dean of the School of Education and Humanities. Up to the time of his death, he was a Senior Lecturer at the University of Guyana. He was also the author of the novel `Going Home and other Tales from Guyana.’` He is survived by his wife Myrna Bernard and two children, Denyse and Ayanna. – CaribWorldNews.com
