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- STATEMENT TO THE PRESS FROM
THE FAMILY OF VIOLA BURNHAM
-
- Broward
County, Florida, Mrs.
Viola Burnham, O.R., wife of the late Linden
- Forbes Sampson
Burnham, First Prime Minster and Executive President of the
-
Republic of Guyana, passed away in Florida on October 10, 2003
following a
- short battle with cancer.
-
- “Comrade
Vi” as she was popularly known, was a former teacher of Latin.
She
- entered active politics in 1976 when she became a
member of the Central
- Executive and the leader of the women’s
arm of the People’s National Congress.
- Cde. Vi led Guyana’s
delegation to two major world conferences on women,
- Mexico
(1975) and Denmark (1980).
-
- In the
late 80’s, she served as Deputy Prime Minister and
Vice-President of
- Education, Social Development & Culture.
Cde. Vi later retired from public service
- to pursue farming and
her lifelong interests in painting and design.
-
- She
will always be remembered as a champion of women’s causes, a
teacher and
- mentor; and one who loved animals and farming. Viola
Burnham is survived by her
- children Melanie, Ulele, Kamana and
Asante, eldest of her seven grandchildren, her
- sisters and
brothers and a host of nieces, nephews and friends.
-
- Her
family honours Cde. Vi’s request to be cremated and for her
ashes to be returned
- to Guyana. An ardent supporter of the
Guyana Cancer Society, it was her wish that
- donations be made to
the society in her name. A memorial service will be held in
-
Florida for the immediate family; and a further memorial will be
planned at a later date
- in Georgetown, Guyana.
-
- The
family wishes to thank the staff of the Northwest Georgia
Oncology Center and the
- VITAS
Hospice at the Memorial Hospital in Pembroke Pines,
Florida.
-
- PNC Reform
- Congress Place, Sophia,
- Georgetown, Guyana.
- Friday, October 10, 2003
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