The Service of Thanksgiving for the Life of Veda Valencia Harrigan was held at the Pro Cathedral of St. Mary, in The Valley, on Saturday, 9th April.
As Cannon Reid declared prior to his sermon: “Before I became a priest, the vocation of teacher was considered to be the most noble one.” That is why even though last week The Anguillian covered the primary schools’ tributes in Teacher Veda’s memory, this week we pay our last respects with homage to this great educator, as we also cover her funeral – all in her honour.
The funeral featured several reflective tributes. Following these, former Parliamentarian, Evans McNiel Rogers, Veda’s close cousin, read her eulogy which highlighted several noble qualities of her home and family life, her church life, her public life and her teaching career:
“Veda Vincencia Harrigan was born on the 5th of July 1953 to Alice and Abraham Harrigan of Little Dix. She was the second of eight children.
“She spent 40 years of her life as a teacher. She loved her students, and she would sometimes become more of a mother than a teacher to them. When Teacher Veda’s students excelled and succeeded, she was their greatest cheer leader, and their failures were among her deepest regrets.”
“Veda was a loving mother, a true daughter, and a friend,” he remarked. “She was a dedicated teacher, and an avid gardener. Her two children, Kareem and Tish, would recall that next to them, her plants were particularly special to her. She spent quite a lot of time in her garden at Little Harbour, and Saturday evenings were spent creating bouquets for the Sunday morning church service.
“Veda took immense pride in her flowers. Gardeners are special people. It takes patience and perseverance – and a love for living things to grow a garden of beautiful flowers. Gardening is tedious, arduous work. But there is something that gardeners experience that many others don’t. For gardeners, there is the beauty and satisfaction to see the results of labour come to fruition. There is a peacefulness that comes over the gardener who nurtures the plants and flowers with their own hand.
“Gardeners make a difference in the world. They make a difference in their own lives as well as the lives of others around them. I think that Veda’s work in the garden demonstrated the careful nurturing person that she was.
“Veda was a true Anguillian. The overall development of this country through education, and through her influence in politics, through her church and the lives that she touched, were of paramount importance to her. She loved this little rock. And Kareem and Tish can attest to the fact that she was reluctant to leave here even to seek medical attention overseas. She so wanted to be among her people.
“On behalf of the Anguilla United Front, I extend condolences to her children Kareem and Tish and to her immediate and extended family. I also extend sympathy to her friend, our dear former Chief Minister, the Honourable Osbourne Fleming. We wish that God would continue to guide and comfort you all during these difficult times.”
Canon Reid Simon delivered an impactful sermon with the text taken from John 14, where Jesus said: ‘I go and prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you unto myself so that where I am you may be also…and you know the way to the place where I am going.’
“Today, we gather to give God thanks and praise for the life of his servant. She was involved in the life of the community as an educator and, as I said at another funeral lately, until I became a priest the teaching profession was the most noble in the world.
“Teachers must be treated very well. At times they remain the work-horses of society, and they are underpaid. But it is through their endeavours that societies are shaped and minds are moulded By being able to impart knowledge to their students, teachers are the ones who ensure that societies continue through the ages.
“So we thank God for Veda in that regard, and especially because she was fulfilling a part of what Christ really calls us unto – to be engaged in community. Christian service is not just to be focused on the heavenly journey, and to live in a bubble, but to make sure that whatever vocation we undertake we must do it to the glory of God – making sure that we give the best of our time and talents.”
He then turned attention to Veda’s spiritual standing, saying: “She played her part with her God in His church, doing whatever she could – not necessarily delivering the sermon by speaking it – but by seeking to allow her life to bear witness to the presence of God. It was St. Francis of Assisi who said: ‘Preach the gospel always; speak words if necessary’.
“A challenge for her mission was to allow her life to preach a message for Jesus Christ so that she could advance His kingdom. We are thankful for that in her communal engagement, but more particularly as a church. We thank God even more that she played her part in serving her God in this church. She sought to live a life to please her God.”
“So we come before God in this moment,” he reflected, “and we pray that Veda, and all those who have gone before with a sign of faith, would have God’s mercy and grace resting upon them.”
With the recessional hymn, “Will Your Anchor Hold”, the casket bearing Veda’s remains was borne to the churchyard cemetery for interment.
