By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

FNM chairman and former Member of Parliament Charles Maynard will be laid to rest today at Christ Church Cathedral, George Street.

Mr Maynard’s body will be interred at Woodlawn Gardens on Soldier Road, following the 11am service, which is expected to be addressed by Dr Hubert Minnis, Leader of the Official Opposition, former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, and Minister of National Security Dr Bernard Nottage.

The Rev Neil Nairn, assistant priest at St Agnes Anglican Church will deliver the eulogy, Dean Patrick Johnson will perform the commendation and the Rev Sebastian Campbell was also asked to participate.

Mr Maynard’s funeral will be broadcast only on ZNS radio 1540Am and 104.5FM but will not be broadcast over ZNS TV as it is not a State funeral, but rather an “Official Funeral”.

State funerals are only held for Prime Minister’s, Governor Generals and sitting Cabinet Members.

However, the government will provide $10,000 to the Maynard family to assist them with the funeral expenses and also provide the programmes for the service.

Mr Maynard’s body lay in state at the House of Assembly on Thursday and will remain there until 10am today when it is taken in procession to the cathedral.

After the service, the casket will be taken by hearse north on George Street, east on Bay Street to Village Road, south on Village Road to the parking lot at Lowe’s Pharmacy. In the parking lot, the casket will be transferred to the catafalque and will then proceed to Woodlawn Cemetery, where he will be interred.

Yesterday, hundreds of people gathered in front of the House of Assembly to get a view of the body of a man described by former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham as a “gifted addition” to the FNM.

Former Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest told the media, after viewing Mr Maynard’s body, not only did the country lose a great man, but his children lost a great father.

“I listened to people talk about Charlie and a story that continues to touch me is my wife is a principal at Queen’s College High School and people at QC talked about how Charlie used to park at the back gate as a minister, take his little girl and walk her from the back gate to the early learning centre which is at the front at the Village Road side of the school,” he said.

“This is particularity touching not just that he did that but the way in which he did it. Here you had a cabinet minister who was just a father at that moment, bonding with his daughter. That speaks to the type of man he was.”

Senator Zhivargo Laing also spoke very highly of Mr Maynard yesterday describing him as “real” and “passionate.”

“I was entirely impressed with Charlie,” he said, “from the time he joined the party. The first time I really interacted with him was at a rally in West End and I was just flabbergasted at how seemingly and effortlessly he seemed to integrate himself into the party, how personable he was and how convinced he was in what he was talking about. So from that time he and I interacted regularly because we were among the junior and younger people in the government and so I was really taken aback by his passing.”

“There are two things that stood out about Charlie to me. One was that he was real, always real. There was nothing pretentious about him and the second thing is he was convinced. Anyone who served with him would know, if Charlie brought an idea in his head, you had to be really really really really good to get that idea out of his head and that was the passion and conviction that he brought to everything he did and that’s why he was so successful in almost everything he did. That is an impressive character.”

Charles Maynard, 42, was serving as the National Chairman of the Free National Movement and co-coordinator of the by-election campaign for the North Abaco Constituency when he fell ill and died on Tuesday, August 14.

He is married to Zelena Maynard and is the father of three children.