My father’s professional colleagues and numerous friends recall his keen wit and deep sense of humour.

He endeavoured arduously to be knowledgeable and conversant in every subject he considered relevant to the wellbeing and improvement of his family, his country, Belize, and the general welfare of humanity.

He studied everything noteworthy about national and local public affairs, and was always accurate in forecasting the outcome of elections and the reasons for that outcome, as he did for the recent elections.

His friends called him ‘The Duck Hawk’, which, as was explained to me, is the nickname given to the Peregrine Falcon, a bird of prey which seeks out and chases away other predatory birds. This was at first puzzling, since my father was not an aggressive person. Then I realized that it was because his wit could become so scathing, and his sharp tongue could quickly subdue those who tried to take advantage of the weak in our community. This, then, was a noble nickname.

His public service career spanned some 55 years; in his last position he served as Chairman of the Public Services Commission.

It all started on 16th April 1943 in Mullins River Town, where he was born to Mr. Herbert Bernard, Sr., and his beautiful wife, Mrs. Eunice Bernard, the fourth-born of 12 siblings. He often recalled to us his happy childhood fishing and swimming in the sea and in Mullins River itself, from which he insisted the best drinking water in Belize could be drawn.

He attended the Mullins River Methodist Primary School, where very early, his reading ability, computational skills and aptitude for critical thinking were recognized as outstanding. This earned him a scholarship to attend St. John’s College in Belize City, where he excelled and placed well in his graduating class.

Called by necessity to support his family and siblings, he joined the Belize Civil Service as a Temporary Clerk, shortly after graduating on 15th April 1961, a day before his 18th birthday.

He rose quickly in the ranks and by 1971 was assigned to senior positions in the Financial Grades, and was posted that same year as Chief Personnel Officer in the Establishment Department, now known as the Ministry of the Public Service. During this time he pursued and obtained the postgraduate Diploma in Public Administration from the University of the West Indies, Mona Jamaica, which was a rare and remarkable achievement for a serving public officer at the time.

He went on to obtain certification in Personnel Management and in Organizational Methods, respectively, from the Royal Institute of Public Administration in London, UK.

He was posted to the Ministry of Trade and Industry in February 1982. In November of that year he was posted to the senior position of Secretary to the Cabinet in the Office of the Prime Minister.

He was appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Sports on 3rd January 1983, during which time he successfully pursued and completed a postgraduate program in Educational Administration at Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA. He served in the Ministry of Education until 1985. He served brief stints in the Attorney General’s Ministry, and the Ministry of Home Affairs and Defence, and worked after retirement as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Public Service until July 1998.

His appointment as Chairman of the Public Service Commission in 2009 placed him in a greater position to contribute to the development of the Belize Public Service. The adoption of measures consistent with the philosophy of New Public Management for improved performance appraisals took root during his watch.

My family and I are proud to say that my father served with distinction in all his Public Service assignments. He was a humble man who cared not for the limelight. Rather, he was always concerned about the welfare of public officers, encouraging many to pursue higher studies for their personal career development. This is his legacy of public service, one which his former colleagues affirm to be worthy of emulation.

In full retirement, he continued to render valuable service to the public as a Senior Justice of the Peace and Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Belize from our residence on Toucan Street. He turned no one away and served without charge as he was required to do, often offering sound advice to many who sought his attention. We, his children, saw these numerous visits and are grateful for this source of inspiration to do well for all, as any true Christian would do.

We thank him for imbuing in us this gift of human kindness.

My recollections of my Dad are many happy ones. A religious man, he was a devout Roman Catholic, which, I believe, had much to do with my mother’s persuasiveness. Having attended a Roman Catholic college, it did not take much for him to be fully persuaded.

His love of country music was legendary. His favourite country singer was George Jones.

He was also a man who knew and respected the value of the earth. He was a capable famer who knew how to work the soil, toiling very hard, spending long hours to develop the small farm he was able to purchase many years ago. We enjoyed many hours of fulfilling experiences at the farm, which is located near to Belmopan.

My father’s first love was Mullins River, and the person he loved most was Gladys Sarita Bernard, with whom he was married for 45 years of his life and had 4 wonderful sons — Renan, the eldest; Denzil; Risden, who sadly passed away; and Warren, the youngest. He would often talk about Mullins River, but Gladys was the one who stole his heart. I often see myself in my Dad in the way we put the ones that we love first and foremost.

My father loved his siblings – Manelva, his oldest sister, with whom he spent a lot of time in Belize City; his brother, Gilbert, whom he affectionately called “Frank”, and who was always his guidance with farming; Ethel, his loving sister who remained in Mullins River and was the first on the list to visit on his trips back home; Herbert, Owen and Ewald, whom he looked forward to play dominoes with; Uncle Gerald, who was the after-hours man and would always pass through in the wee hours of the morning with some kind of game meat (Gibnut) to wake up my dad; Percival and Robert, who would always have some ground food in a parting bag when it was time to leave; Eunice, who was the only female in the family to tell the boys, “unu barely could hold up”; and Aunt Ruby, who lived abroad, and who was the one who kept the family in check. Whenever she came to Belize they would all congregate to welcome her.

Seven of them are now reunited in heaven; I can only imagine the dominoes games now being played in their celestial haven.

In Belmopan he had several domino partners – Mr. Alfonso Casey, also known as “Bully Reg”; Mr. Cas, aka “Bushy Tail”, and Denzil and myself, would all meet up with him on Sundays at the farm to play sets of dominoes. This was a weekly occurrence which was not always approved by Ms. G, but she would eventually say “go ahead” when she saw me or Denzil going to join them.

My dad has 5 grandsons: Denzil, the eldest, followed by Keenan, Renan Jr., Jahvan and Kaedan, whom he would look forward to every day after school. They were all his pride and joy, and he was always involved in every little celebration, whether it was birthdays or graduations.

It is so deeply saddening for us that he could not be here with us as we observed his 46th year of marriage to my mother on 16th November. May his soul rest in peace and rise in glory!