Prime Minister Perry Christie said yesterday Minister of Transport and Aviation Glenys Hanna-Martin is coping as best she can after the passing of her husband Leon 'Onni' Martin on Saturday. "I indicated to her that those of us, her colleagues, will wrap our arms around her and give her all the support that she needs in these circumstances," Christie said. "When someone loses their life in tragic circumstances, it's always a very difficult thing to accommodate and address.

And if that person has had a long connection with you, as is in the case of Mr. Martin and Mrs. Hanna-Martin, it is sad." Martin's husband was found dead with a rope around his neck in what police believe was a suicide. Police said he was found hanging from a ceiling in an abandoned building at Yamacraw Beach Road on Saturday afternoon. "Ms. Hanna-Martin is a very strong lady," Christie said.

"She would know how unkind politics can be by being involved in it, being a person of political importance and how people will speak and cast events. "So I think she really is a very strong lady who is coping well, who reflects the concern of the children, but otherwise she is very, very sad for what has taken place." A statement issued on Sunday said Martin's family is "deeply saddened on learning of his death".

Martin was an accomplished musician and accountant at the firm of A.D. Hanna & Co. for more than 30 years, the statement noted. Musician and pastor, Leroy 'Tinkle' Hanna, who knew Martin for 32 years, said he was an underrated musician. "He was not one of those you heard about like Fred Ferguson...he was one of those people in the background upon whose shoulder many of us who have been better known in the music world stood," Hanna said.

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