Veteran educator, counsellor and mentor Mrs. Elaine Joycelyn Carmichael, who had entered the teaching profession in the mid-1960s and had rendered yeoman service within that sector, passed away at the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital on August 28, following a period of illness. Her death came just one week ahead of her 73rd birth anniversary.
She was, on Tuesday, laid to rest at the St. James-The-Less Anglican Cemetery in Kitty, Georgetown, following a well-attended thanksgiving service for her life held at the St. Phillip’s Church at Durban and Smyth Streets, Georgetown.
Mrs. Carmichael had spent more than 50 years in the education sector as a teacher and a headmistress, and later counsellor within the Ministry of Education.
She was the wife of Mr. Fitz Uriel Carmichael of the United States of America, who himself was, for several years, also a headmaster and former Regional Minister of Regions 1 and 9, and the Minister of Forestry in Guyana.
Mrs Carmichael had been the mother of Kenwyn Carmichael of the Ministry of Health in Brickdam.
Amidst glowing tributes in her honour, she was remembered as a wonderful woman who had touched the lives of thousands with whom she had come into contact through the years – both in coastal and hinterland Guyana.
Born at Maria’s Lodge, Essequibo Coast in 1939, Elaine was educated at Abram Zuil school on the Essequibo Coast, and had worked at a number of schools during her long career, including at Hackney Primary School in the Pomeroon; Port Kaituma, Region 1; St. Ignatius, Rupununi; Comenius Moravian Primary at East La Penitence; and Tucville Secondary in Georgetown.
After retiring from the teaching profession, she had been re-employed by the Ministry of Education as a Counsellor, and had served in Georgetown.
Mrs. Carmichael was eulogised as one who had led an exemplary life by any standard. A role model worthy of emulation, she had been gentle and always pleasant, even in her time of pain. She had been a lady in every sense of the word, and had lived a life of caring and sharing.
To her credit and to the delight of friends, she had that special art of ‘tastefully’ celebrating a ‘truly Guyanese Christmas’, as mentioned in some of the tributes.
To her parents – Norman and Mary George of Maria’s Lodge, Essequibo Coast — she had been caring and attentive; a loving and nurturing mother, and an equally devoted and supportive wife, who had stood by her husband in and out of season. Her unwavering support, understanding of the issues at hand, and endurance had formed vital pillars on which the regional system was built in Region 1 in the mid-1970s.
With the advent of regionalism in Guyana, her husband Fitz Uriel Carmichael was appointed the first Regional Minister of Region 1 – a challenging task performed under a virtually new dispensation.
“Her value to the family was unparalleled, and she excelled in her role as a mother,” her childhood friend Carol Maison, who read her eulogy, attested.  Maison noted that Elaine’s firm and abiding faith in God allowed her to accept the challenges of life, which she weathered with courage and endurance.
With discipline as her hallmark, and being a stickler for excellence,  Elaine Carmichael, who made tremendous contributions to the lives of her students and people within the communities in which she lived and worked, insisted that such values be transferred to, and upheld by, those under her tutelage, Maison recalled.
A woman with a great humanitarian touch, Elaine Joycelyn Carmichael had had many plans which had seen her positively impacting the lives of others –especially those she had taught.
With a desire to see Elaine’s dreams for the development of young people materialise, Maison, on a very emotional note, made a poignant appeal to the congregation (with a predominance of persons from the education sector): “To all those still young, energetic and involved in moulding the minds of children, I urge you – mould those lives just as Elaine did.”