Christine Kangaloo moved the congregation at the Susamachar Presbyterian Church yesterday as she spoke about the courage and dignity of her brother, Appeal Court judge Wendell Kangaloo, even after an accident left him disrobed. In her eulogy at his funeral service Kangaloo said: “I wanted to speak about how Wendell lived after his injuries. “To truly know and understand Wendell, I believe one had to know and understand how he lived his life, when he was stripped bare.
“For it was when life stripped Wendell down to the barest essence of what he was that Wendell showed time-and-time again what it meant to be alive, what it meant to live a life of courage and dignity. “As hard and as far as he was thrown, as violently as he was shaken, as badly as he was battered, there were traits about Wendell that could not be thrown. There were qualities that could not be shaken.”
She said he defied every medical parameter and even proved wrong doctors who said he would not walk again. “In the end the surprise wasn’t so much that Wendell died from his illness but that he died in spite of his illness,” she added.
Hundreds packed the church on Coffee Street, San Fernando, including his colleagues on the Bench, led by Chief Justice Ivor Archie and his former colleague President Anthony Carmona, to say farewell to the man who fought the debilitating injuries suffered in an accident a year ago, before succumbing last Thursday.
Among the mourners were former prime minister Basdeo Panday, Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley, Public Administration Minister Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan and former national security minister Jack Warner. Presbyterian minister the Rev Joy Abdul-Mohan used the opportunity to urge mourners to curb reckless and drunken driving, saying in spite of numerous calls for drivers to be safe on the road, no one seemed to be listening.
She said Justice Kangaloo was a victim of a tragic and senseless accident, which left four others dead and asked the congregation: “Is it nothing to you?” His twin brother, Wayne, and colleagues shared fond memories and brought out more laughs than tears during the funeral. Wayne said Wendell was meant to be a judge because he was a prefect while they both attended Presentation College and gave him a detention slip “without fear or favour.”
Justice of Appeal Peter Jamadar described his colleague, who had been his business partner in a law firm they once ran together, as a stubborn man he fought with but also the most loyal and trustworthy of his friends. Chief Justice Ivor Archie said he lost his “right-hand man” and believed Kangaloo would have made an excellent Chief Justice. He also described Kangaloo as humble, truthful and outspoken in his words and actions.
“For Wendell, accolades were of no importance. The Judiciary came first,” he added. He said Kangaloo had a clear vision of what he wanted to contribute to the appellate bench and one of its pillars was now lost. Each speaker touched on Kangaloo’s passion for horse-racing, saying it was a non-negotiable Sunday ritual for him to go to the Arima Race track. His sister said May 20, 2012 was the last time he took that trip.
She said the Wendell they were saying goodbye to was a better man than the one who got into his car that fateful morning. “This is the Wendell to whom we say goodbye today.” Kangaloo was later cremated in a private ceremony at the Belgroves crematorium.
Flashback
On May 20, 2012, Kangaloo, who was acting Chief Justice at the time, was on his way to the Arima race track when a car crossed the median along the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway and crashed into his SUV. The four occupants of the other car died at the scene. Kangaloo, 57, was treated at home and abroad. He died at the Intensive Care Unit of the St Clair Medical Centre, where he had been warded shortly before.