Former Gleaner Features Editor dies at 67

Elaine Mendez

SHE DID not become the doctor she wanted to be but Elaine Mendez, a former Features Editor of The Gleaner, died a happy woman.

The 67-year-old, who battled diabetes and related illnesses in her later years, passed away on June 16 in hospital, but not before getting one of her fondest wishes - to see her grandchild, Breanna Anderson, who was born a month ago.

"She just wanted to live long enough to see her grandchild. That was her wish for many years," says Ms. Mendez's son, Trevor Anderson, who honoured his mother by calling his daughter, Felisa, derived from the Spanish word, "Feliz", meaning happy.

A graduate of St. Simon's College, Kingston, she had been a firm believer in education, preaching its importance to her son and setting the example herself by pursuing further studies at the University of the West Indies several years after joining the staff of The Gleaner in 1953.

But, she will be better remembered for being a connoisseur of flowers, having never missed the annual flower shows in the Corporate Area. Also she had a liking for foreign languages, among them French, Spanish, German and Latin.

For more than 40 years, Ms. Mendez indulged her love of English by sub-editing the British and United States editions of The Weekly Gleaner and The Sunmag, the forerunner to The Sunday Gleaner's Outlook Magazine.

"She was a very methodical person (who) had strict guidelines. You could learn from her. She always gave pointers. She was quite jolly, quite jolly in her own way (and) very keen on literary works," recalls Hilma Brown, The Gleaner's Editorial Administrator, with a glimmer of tears in her eyes.

Ken Allen, The Gleaner's Opinion Page Editor, agreed.

"She was a reserved person (but) behind that reserve was a lot of efficiency. She was a solid sub-editor who took her work seriously ... and she didn't suffer fools gladly, but she and I were good buddies. She was never frivolous (so) if she laughs with you, it means that you are her friend and she likes you," he said.

The eldest of four children, Ms. Mendez retired in 1998 but, according to friends and associates, she maintained contact with The Gleaner and continued to give constructive criticisms.

Barbara Gloudon, journalist and talk show host, remembered Ms. Mendez as being "one of the unsung heroines of local journalism, a sub-editor whose editing skills gave life to the words of the writers, the more visible and public faces".

She said Ms. Mendez, though "a shy and retiring person (who) faced many personal challenges in her time ... gave of her best, becoming one of that band of persons who could be described as 'Gleaner stalwarts'".

"Her passing is even more poignant as it came only a few days before that of her tutor and mentor, Dr. Theodore Sealy," she said.

Ms. Mendez is survived also by her sisters, Millicent Hall (England), Hope Maragh (US) and a brother, Delroy Mendez, in England. Her funeral service will be next Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. at Christ Church, Vineyard Town, Kingston 3.

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