Pen photos of the deceased, Cyril Millington, Michelle Millington-Carryl and Dwight Spencer

Cyril was a former employee of Guyana Telephone Company, Brickdam, while his sister ,Michelle, and nephew Dwight were past students of Bishops High School, Carmichael Street in the city

The three, along with Carryl’s children, Jamal 15, Jamilla, 13 and Jeanine, 9, were on their way back to Florida to attend the wedding of a cousin when tragedy struck.

Ironically, the deceased Carryl and the children had just days before seen their husband and father Colin, depart for Guyana to participate in a 75th birthday event of his mother.

Of the three children also injured in the accident and were patients at the Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah, Georgia, only one could have attended the funeral, as the others continue to be warded.

According to reports out of New York, last Saturday night was set aside as a `Family Night’ for the surviving siblings, some of whom travelled from Guyana the same day, to interact and then view the bodies at the R. Steven LeGall, Home for Funerals at 169 Empire Boulevard in Brooklyn.

The following day, Sunday, was open viewing of the bodies and tributes at St Gabriel’s Episcopal Church, Hawthorne Street, Brooklyn, where mourners over-spilled the church, a Parish Hall and another building, into the churchyard and onto the roadway, hours before the official 1300h start.

Among those in attendance were family members of the Millington’s, the Klass’s, Spencer’s, Carryl’s, Gibson’s and other relatives; representatives from Tutorial High School Alumni Association;  Bishops High School Old Students Association, who either knew Michelle or Dwight, both old students; work colleagues and students of Michelle Carryl; former work mates of Cyril Millington who had also worked at the Guyana Telecommunication Corporation (GTC) and Verizon; friends of Dwight Spencer as well as of the surviving Carryl children, and former residents of Agricola Village, East Bank Demerara now resident in New York.

As a result of the huge crowd, there was a visible presence of officers from the New York Police Department.

According to this newspaper’s source in New York, the home-going service on Monday, also held at the St Gabriel’s Episcopal Church, was quite heart-wrenching to witness. Noreen Millington, wife of Cyril, and her two daughters; Colin Carryl and the one daughter who hospital authorities granted permission to attend the funeral; the remaining Millington’s baker’s dozen siblings, Cecil, Edna, Earl, Ann, Jean, Michael, Phillip, Sharon, mother of Dwight Spencer, and Carol, with the exception of Ivor, in Guyana, and Grace in Canada, both of whom were unable to attend; other relatives and friends, moved from the casket to casket bearing the brother, sister and nephew, as they bade their final goodbyes.

The homily was delivered by Reverend. Dr Lloyd Andries, who incidentally officiated at the funeral of Cyril & Michelle’s father, the late Ivan Millington, more 41 years ago in Guyana.

The service included reflections by Courtney Gibson, a cousin and former editor-in-chief of the Guyana Chronicle newspapers, and ironically whose son’s wedding the family were headed when tragedy struck; Wendy Sampson, cousin, Courtney Parris, representing the defunct Guyana National Service (GNS); Chris Bradford; and Maxine Abrams on behalf of the former GTC (Telecoms);

Soloist Anthony Alleyne gave a soul-stirring rendition of the hymn `How Great Thou Art’, while the responses were done by Cecil Millington, the twin brother of the deceased Cyril, and Edna Millington-Loncke, a sister.

The theme of the message/sermon bordered on `Trust and Faith in God – the Father never gives more than we can bear’.

NYPD, according to the reports, was forced to close off some streets to allow for the huge cortege which included three hearses, three limousines, to proceed freely from the church to Cypress Hills Cemetery, also in Brooklyn.

At the cemetery, Michelle’s casket was the first to be lowered , followed by Cyril’s and then Dwight’s, with the latter’s casket placed atop the two with the remains of his uncle and aunt.

The three deceased, Cyril Millington, Michelle Millington Carryl and Dwight Spencer, along with Carryl’s three children, were in a 2001 Mazda MPV minivan on their way to Florida when a Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck driven by Michael Delph, 28, also dead, against the traffic in the southbound lane, crashed head-on into their vehicle.

While the brother, sister and nephew died on the spot, the three children were rushed to the Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah, one by helicopter, and two by ambulance.

The children’s father who had just days before arrived in Guyana to observe his mother’s 75th birth anniversary on July 26, upon being informed of the dreadful news by the Georgia State Police, flew back to New York the same Sunday.

The Georgia State Police reported that all six occupants of the minivan were wearing seat belts at the time of the accident, while the driver of the pick-up truck was not wearing a safety device.

The troopers also found open containers of alcoholic beverages inside the pickup.