People from all walks of life throughout Anguilla, others from the US Virgin Islands and elsewhere, turned out in large numbers to pay their last respects to Anguilla’s well-known and accomplished aircraft company owner and pilot, Captain Kirby Hodge.
The Service of Thanksgiving was held on Saturday, December 1, at the spacious Church of God (Holiness), on the Queen Elizabeth Avenue, which was filled to capacity. Among the milling crowd were forty or more pilots – from the US Virgin Islands, other Caribbean islands and Anguilla – who came together in solidarity with family members and friends of Captain Hodge who disappeared on a flight from St. Croix to St. Thomas on October 13. He was accompanied by three passengers, one of whom was rescued by search parties, while the bodies of the other two were found in the re-floated aircraft Kirby piloted.
The service, though a thanksgiving event, was one of the saddest witnessed in recent times in Anguilla. One reason was, no doubt, the absence of Captain Kirby’s body which would have brought closure to his presumed demise. Anguished relatives, friends, as well young people whom he mentored, cried unashamedly during the service, influencing the emotions of many other persons at the large gathering.
The officiating Ministers were Pastor Captain Dexter Skeppie, a LIAT Antiguan pilot residing in St. Croix and a well-known preacher; Pastor Gareth Hodge of Destiny Church, Anguilla; Pastor Roderick Webster, an Anguillian ministering in St. Maarten; Pastor Cecil Richardson of Central Baptist Church at Rey Hill, Anguilla; and Minister Chris Richardson of the Christian Fellowship Church on the Blowing Point Road, Anguilla.
The service began with a procession of pilots into the church, followed by the opening prayer by Pastor Webster and welcome remarks by Pastor Hodge.
The congregation was treated with a video presentation which featured the legendary life and service of Captain Hodge, described as “Aviator Extraordinaire”. Apart from featuring his early life and growing-up years, the video concentrated mainly on his service as an accomplished pilot in the Caribbean and the United States. The presentation culminated in his outstanding contribution as owner of Rainbow International Airlines (including a jet aircraft), an air ambulance service and Anguilla Air Express, managed by his wife, Mrs. Rose Hodge, at the Clayton Lloyd International Airport in Anguilla.
The sadness of the occasion was relieved to some extent, or perhaps otherwise heightened, by inspiring congregational and solo singing, including special songs by various persons, some of whom had close relationships with, and fond memories of, Captain Hodge. A number of the songs were rendered in tribute to him. Among the tributes were remarks from a representative of the St. Thomas Government’s Rescue Service who spoke of his efforts and those of his colleagues involved in the search for the missing aircraft, Kirby and his passengers. A tribute, of much appeal to listeners, was written by the pilot’s Anguilla-based brother, Sheridan Smith, CEO of Sheriva Boutique Hotel ,and read by Nurse Chris Smith-Brooks. The full text is published elsewhere in this edition of The Anguillian.
The saddened congregation was stirred into much delight by the rousing delivery of Pastor Captain Dexter Skeppie. He impressed on his listeners the nobleness of giving of themselves and their means freely to others, in a spirit of cheerfulness, and spoke highly in that regard of the Anguillian pilot. “That’s what Kirby was all about. He gave all the time over, over and over again,” he stated. “Can someone keep on giving? When someone asks why, tell them it is from the heart and when your heart is right, you keep on giving. God is a giving God. Can someone clap their hands and say halleluiah?” The crowd erupted in prolonged applause as the preacher continued his light-hearted and uplifting delivery.
The references he presented were aimed at recounting the life and sacrificial service of Captain Kirby Hodge. That life and service was gallantly played out by him on that fatal date, daybreak Saturday, October 13, 2012, when his plane crashed into the sea and he attempted to save his passengers, surrendering his life in the process.
