Family members of the late Chester Thompson remember him as a "loving" father who was always the "centre of activity" and enjoyed spending time with family in his native Hope Town, Abaco.

Paul Adderley, former Cabinet minister and one of the framers of the constitution, was remembered yesterday as the ultimate statesman with unwavering pride and dedication to his country. Adderley was buried at Western Cemetery following a state funeral at Christ Church Cathedral. Parliamentarians, other dignitaries, friends and family all crowded into the church to pay their last respects to a man who gave most of his life to public service. Prime Minister Perry Christie, in a tribute at the service, said Adderley was a "founding father of a modern Bahamas" that gave "illustrious" service to Parliament.

Christie said the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) owed a great debt to Adderley for his work with the party before and after independence. Christie, a close friend and Adderley's former Cabinet colleague, added that Adderley came from a long line of nation builders and knew early on that he was duty bound to continue the family tradition. "Believe me when I say that we cannot comprehend who and what Paul Adderley was, or what he came to mean to the life and times of our country over the course of his 84 years," he said.

"Nor can we comprehend what the lessons of his life hold for us now and for the children of tomorrow unless we first realize that Paul himself understood that there was a family tradition of excellence, of high accomplishment, of sacrifice, and of service that he had to live up to." Christie also recalled Adderley's prowess in the courtroom and in Parliament. He said Adderley was a "fiery orator" who also had an impressive acquittal record from his days as a criminal attorney. The prime minister said when Adderley joined the Progressive Liberal Party it gave the party and its struggle for majority rule "instant credibility".

Adderley served as attorney general, minister of foreign affairs, minister of national security, minister of education, minister of finance and chairman of the Hotel Corporation during the Pindling administration. Christie said Adderley held on to his principles and morals during the 1980s, an era when the country was grappling with a rise in drug trafficking. "The fact that as attorney general and minister of national security in the turbulent 80s, Paul Adderley was seen by just about everybody, both here and abroad, as the absolutely incorruptible leader of the war on drug trafficking, gave local and international legitimacy to the PLP government at a time when it desperately needed that," Christie said.

"It helped stabilize the government and if truth be told it contributed in no small way to the PLP's improbable success in the 1987 general election." He added that Adderley was a staunch defender of this nation's sovereignty during the first few years after independence. Christie said Adderley was a man of many pursuits outside of politics, including history, photography, golf and theater. "He was the most intellectually gifted man of his generation," Christie said.

Adderley died in hospital on September 19 due to complications from a long illness. Reverend Dr. James Moultrie, who once served as Adderley's parliamentary secretary, remembered him as a father and mentor. "There are no words for that when a man of Paul Adderley's magnitude dies," Moultrie said. "Paul Adderley's intense literary power and great gentleness, his intense spiritual force that few know about, his great intellect, his unbending courage and his deep compassion have left each one of us with special memories that will last a lifetime, for each of us was touched by him in a special way." Adderley was first elected to Parliament in 1961 and remained a representative until 1967. In 1967, he left the PLP to start the National Democratic Party. He returned to the PLP in 1972 and remained a member until his death. After he left frontline politics he remained active in national development.

OFFICIALS began cordoning off parts of downtown Nassau yesterday ahead of the state funeral of former Attorney General Paul Adderley.

The funeral will be held on Today at 11am at Christ Church Cathedral on George Street.

A memorial service in honour of Mr Adderley, the country’s longest serving Attorney General, was held Wednesday at PLP Headquarters.

Party chairman Bradley Roberts said: “Adderley was a legal scholar and was widely admired for his intellectual prowess and uncanny ability to interpret the law. Paul was a formidable debater in the halls of Parliament and his character and reputation as a public servant were above reproach.

“Yes, the passing of this Stalwart Councillor and iconic figure in the political development of the Bahamas saddens us all, but Paul surely left an indelible legacy of excellence on this country and for that I am sure we all are happy and thankful to Almighty God.”

By CELESTE NIXON

Tribune Staff Reporter

The tragic death of 11-year-old Marco Archer has long faded from the headlines, but those who were closest to him said yesterday the intensity of the grief surrounding his murder has not diminished. Yesterday marked the first anniversary of the boy's abduction. Marco left home on Brougham Street to go to a store for candy, and when too much time had passed, his mother went searching for him, but did not find him.

The next five days were hell for his mother and the rest of his family, as each day brought increased anxiety and fear that the horror they feared would become reality. Yesterday, Marco's parents, Tryphemia Meadows and Hartley Archer, wept with their daughters as they sat on a couch at a home on Claridge Road, retracing the horrific incident and searching for words to describe the heartache they continue to endure.

"It was a serious call, but I was thinking that he was alive. That's all I was saying, that he was alive," said Meadows, recalling the phone call on September 28, the day the boy's body was found in bushes behind an apartment complex in Cable Beach. She said even when the family went to the Central Detective Unit, she still believed her youngest child was alive. But the Bob Marley T-shirt and the school pants Marco was wearing when he left home were in possession of the police. Meadows said it was then that the reality of the situation struck her hard.