BELIZE CITY, Mon. Jan. 9, 2017–Just before he passed away last Friday, January 6, Anthony Gilharry Sr., 40, told his sister, Glenda Archer, that his wife was calling him and that he was leaving. Gilharry’s wife, Miriam Diane Gilharry nee Hyde, died two months ago in November 2016.
Maggie Magdalena Haylock, one of Anthony Gilharry’s sisters, told Amandala tonight that her brother died of a broken heart. “After his wife died, my brother gave up life”, Haylock said.
Gilharry was born on 11th October 1976. He lived in Ranchito Village, Corozal District, as a child. At the age of 7 years, his mother died, so the paternal aunt of him and his siblings offered to assist with his upbringing. He lived with her until adulthood, Haylock explained.
Gilharry attended Ranchito Government School and then Escuela Secondario Mexico High School. He later took vocation-technical training in Belize City, and that was when he fell in love with the electrician profession.
He was employed at YEA on Regent Street, known as Paul and Williams Ltd. When Paul and Williams closed down, he decided that he would not go to work for anybody else — he would do his own thing. He took courses online and earned an Associate degree. He also became a licensed electrician, and Amandala was one of the clients to which he provided his services. It was a longstanding professional relationship, since while he had been working at Paul and Williams, he was the main employee to be assigned the various tasks at Amandala that required an electrician’s expertise, Haylock said.
In 1996, while commuting from Corozal to Belize City, he met his wife, who also was commuting to the Belize Teachers College.
They started a common-law union and started their family on Baghdad Street. In September 1997, they were married and they made it their goal to get a house of their own. They worked together toward that goal, and were able to get a home in Belama. The couple continued to make plans together, and to work toward making those plans a reality. They had decided to build their dream house in Corozal.
“My brother had zest for life and he looked forward to retirement and growing old with his wife. He said to her that he is going to design the house in such a way that even when they are old and in their wheelchairs, the corridor would be wide enough to accommodate both wheelchairs. So that was his dream and those were his plans,” his sister said.
“In November 2016, my sister-in-law got ill and she had to go to Merida to find out what was wrong with her. She came back and she said that they found a tumor. The tumor had to be removed and so they returned to Merida.
“From what I have heard from my other sister that was there with her when she took the surgery and had a blood clot, she suffered a heart attack and she passed away,” Haylock said.
“My brother was torn when that happened, and he cut us all off. He refused to speak with anybody. He just became withdrawn. This was November of 2016,” Haylock further related.
Miriam Diane Hyde-Gilharry died on November 6. “She was 48 at the time of her death and my brother was 40 years old… the body came back and we had the funeral – afterwards, he became withdrawn. I invited him for Christmas dinner—but he did not show up. He said to me, ‘I don’t know what I am working for anymore, I have no family’”, Haylock stated.
“In January, he became ill. He had a knee condition and his 14-year-old daughter, Aaliyah, would say her dad was not feeling well when I would check on him”, Haylock said.
What he thought was hemorrhoids actually turned out to be an abscess that had to be surgically removed. On Wednesday of this week, he underwent surgery, but his body reacted in an abnormal way to the procedure, and this prompted doctors to run tests, and when they did so, they discovered that he had type 2 diabetes.
Also, there were apparently clots on Gilharry’s lungs, and on Friday night, he died in a manner that was identical to the passing of his wife – he suffered a heart attack.
“Before he passed, he told my sister, Glenda Archer, that he is leaving because his wife is coming for him”, Haylock disclosed.
All who know him believe, however, that Gilharry died of a broken heart. “Miriam was his heart, his universe. He was shattered… He was not taking care of himself; he had gotten very thin,” his sister remarked.
“In my own opinion, I think that my brother gave up the will to live,” Haylock said. “He felt that there was nothing more here for him. He is now in a better place and he wanted to be with his wife, and he could only have done that through death. So what they had was a love so strong that even in death it would not keep them apart,” she said.
Anthony Gilharry was predeceased by his parents Simeon and Estella Gilharry, and brothers Andy and Simeon Gilharry. He leaves to mourn his passing his daughter Aaliyah, and his sons Morton and Anthony Gilharry, and sisters Glenda and Dorita Gilharry.
Anthony Gilharry will be buried on Wednesday, January 11, in Ranchito Village, Corozal District.