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Family still mourns missing cook from capsized vessel
Six months has passed since the Miss Elliza capsized with 65-year-old Gerald Fraser aboard, and the man’s death has not come any easier for his family; especially for his common-law wife of 13 years, Jean Thompson.
Mrs. Thompson said there will be no Christmas for her this year, since there is nothing joyous to celebrate.
The 65-year-old woman of Lot 2 Drysdale Street, Charlestown said that for the past three years her husband had been living in Trinidad and Tobago but last year was the first time since he had been home for the holidays.
Gerald Fraser and Jean Thompson last year in front of their Drysdale Street home.
She said though he was home for a short while, it was a wonderful Christmas, since his company was what mattered.
Mrs. Thompson is however very upset about the way her husband’s death was handled by the government and the authorities. Since his disappearance, no one has visited her home or offered a word of condolence. In fact she said that the only time she saw a government official was when she saw Minister of Works Robeson Benn at the Muneshwer’s Wharf on the day of the accident. He had promised, Mrs. Thompson said, to keep her updated on what was happening, but to date no contact has been made. Instead, the woman said she has been learning about ownership of the boat being handed over and the hiring of an attorney through the media.
Mrs. Thompson said she no longer sleeps in the room she and her husband once occupied because she said there are too many memories. Photos are hard to look at and the wardrobe filled with her husband’s clothes is kept locked as looking at the clothes only brings back gloomy memories.
She said there is no closure to the pain she feels. “Maybe if something was done, maybe then I would have felt satisfied and at ease, but they did nothing.” “Who feels it knows it,” the woman said citing that the government felt that to raise the boat would have been too expensive.
Mrs. Thompson said she was the last person her husband spoke to the day he died. She recalled he had left to prepare dinner for the boat’s crew members and was expected to return home since the boat was not supposed to sail until midnight.
“I was waiting and looking out for him to return so that we could say goodbye, but he never came.” Thompson said he called to let her know that the boat was leaving and told her to listen to the engine.
The woman however said that her children assist her since she is a pensioner and depended on her husband. “He told me I must give his things to his son if anything should happen to him, but I can’t I just not ready to let go. Loneliness is no easy thing.”
In the meantime, Attorney-at-law Melvin Duke, who is representing Fraser’s daughter who resides in the United States, is moving forward with a wrongful death lawsuit. The lawyer said that the boat owner has indicated his willingness to compensate the family.
He said the compensation process is likely by January next year. Attorney-at-law Euclin Gomes who is representing the boat owner has already made such indication of their willingness to compensate the family.
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