HUNDREDS of mourners, sympathisers and others, whose lives he would have touched turned out on Friday to join the bereaved relatives in saying farewell to Oliver Hinckson.

The occasion was a spirited thanksgiving service in his memory at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Brickdam.

Hinckson, who was dismissed from the Guyana Defence Force where he rose to the rank of lieutenant, died on June 20, 2018, after a prolonged illness. He was 74.

Prior to the service, he was eulogised as an extremely intelligent and very versatile man. He was remembered as being a loyal and faithful individual who fulfilled every obligation he undertook, and who respected himself the way he respected others.

His generosity, leadership qualities and passion for education were said to be attributes he possessed. Family members remembered him as a “doting father, uncle and brother, who made it his business to encourage, prod and inspire his family to excellence.”

A staunch Roman Catholic, a young Hinckson served as an altar boy at the Sacred Heart R.C. Church on Main Street. And it was while attending the Sacred Heart RC School that he excelled academically, winning for himself two scholarships which earned him a place at St. Stanislaus College, then the premier school for Catholic boys.

On graduating from ‘Saints’, he opted to teach literature and mathematics at Carmel R.C. and later became a chemist at the bauxite company in Linden, where he first developed the idea for his award-winning book, ‘The Enemy Within.’

He was in his early 30s when he won the prestigious Casa de las Américas Prize for Literature from a field of 760 from 23 countries, and secured a BSc in International Relations and a Master’s in Global Studies.

Unfortunately, his bid in his latter years for his PhD was curtailed on account of his failing health.

After the Thanksgiving Service, his mortal remains were cremated at the Memorial Gardens Crematorium at Le Repentir Cemetery, and was witnessed by family members and close friends.

Oliver Hinckson is survived by his siblings Earl, Gloria, Huburn, Constance, Rita and Gotta; and his children, Kim Hinckson Pembleton PhD; Command Sergeant Major (U.S. Army) Karen Hinckson, MPH; Kolleen Hinckson PhD; Alik Hinckson, MPA; Kacey Hinckson; Bruce Hinckson; Olivia Hinckson; Aliya Hinckson, MBA; and many grands and great-grands.