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Laurence McDowall As Remembered by Eric Williams, school-mate, lifelong friend, and Member of Parliament for Port of Spain South.
Introduction Laurence F. McDowall was born on 23rd November 1956 and he passed away on 30th September 2000. He was the son of Dr. Milton and Audrey McDowall and brother of Margaret and Rosemary. He was the grandson of Beryl Hollar and the uncle of Michael, Shola, Ariann, Nicole, and Natalie. While Laurence never married and had children of his own, it can be said that he was the surrogate father/big brother/favourite uncle of many young persons, and close friend their parents, particularly of the QRC and Bishop Anstey Girls High School extended family. At the time that Laurence left us, he was employed with the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs as the Manager of the Hasley Crawford National Stadium. He was also the leader of the QRC Scouts, was involved (with Messieurs Thorne and McLean) in coaching the QRC athletic team (which included girls from BAHS), coaching the swimming team of the college (with Ryan Smith and Apollo Arjoon), and he was named Manager of the National Youth Track Team for the upcoming Junior World Track and Field meet in Chile. Education and Achievements Laurence was educated at the Dunn Ross Preparatory School from where he sat the then Common Entrance Examination and was placed at Queen’s Royal College in 1969. After his stay at QRC, he went on to the University of the West Indies where he obtained his B.Sc. in 1981.He completed postgraduate studies at Howard University and the University of Maryland where he obtained his MSc. and his M.A. degrees in 1984 and in 1994 respectively. It was while at QRC in his fifth form year (1974), he took the lead in reviving the QRC scout troop initially as the 1st QRC Air Scouts and then 1st QRC Scouts. During his career as a scout, he obtained the following awards: Queen’s Scout Award His interest in sport led him to attend specialized courses such as: Olympic International Committee’s Olympic Solidarity
Course in Sports Administration Before going off to pursue his postgraduate work, Laurence taught at the Holy Name Convent. This foray into education and his interest in sport were to prove essential elements in his future involvement with young people. Personal Memories from The Q I first met Laurence in the first week of our first form year at QRC, thirty-one years ago. It did not take him very long to put together a band of his peers that quickly became a brotherhood. I remember every Friday afternoon, until about our fourth form year, we played cricket at the home of the McDowall’s. In the words of Ian Millette, one of that group, who now lives in Baltimore in the USA, "I was no cricketer but I enjoyed the evening matches on the "pitch" in Laurence’ s back yard. Not having my own siblings it meant a lot to be part of that group of friends." Actually, none of us were cricketers. But we played anyway because, well, that’s what Laurence led us to do. And play cricket we did whether or not it was the cricket or football season. I remember that we tried to not break any of the windows of the house and were actually successful, most of the time. Throughout our seven-year stay at QRC we were almost always in the same classes. Early on Laurence was developing a vision for all round development of the boys under his charge in the scouts. It was in our fifth form year that Laurence, Gerard Hinds, and Patrick Roberts approached Michael Walke and myself for help to re-start the scout troop. Michael and I were the Sergeants of the cadet unit and Laurence wanted the scouts to learn how to drill properly. We decided to have a trade off in that the we would teach the scouts to drill in return for the scouts teaching us how to camp and tie ropes and knots. Ultimately, we were planning to have joint camps and to develop the talents of the boys of both groups. Alas, the scouts got to learn to drill but our officers at the time forbade us to spend time with the scouts. Before we knew it our best recruit, the late Denton Forde, who became of the finest of scouts, left the cadets and joined the scouts. Laurence never ever let Michael and I live this down; today there is a scout troop but no indigenous QRC cadet unit. As students, we never could understand why Laurence would get really upset for one of two things; whenever anyone misspelt his name or commented on his really poor handwriting and spelling. What few of us knew or understood at that time was that Laurence was dyslexic. It had taken him a particular effort to spell his name properly. I imagine that he figured that if he could lean to spell his name, then everyone else should do the same. My friend Laurence was also keen to take up any cause that he felt was just. When we were in the sixth form, the science block was in bad shape. We had no running water or gas with which to conduct experiments. One day, Laurence simply instigated a shut down of the lab. He organized some rope from the scout room that was promptly strung across the front of the lab. A notebook page in the middle with the words ‘OUT OF ORDER’ completed the job. The then Evening News was called and they sent a reporter and a photographer and we grabbed the evening headline complete with photograph. Needless to say, we soon got a more functional laboratory facility. Dr. Martin Bharath M.D., when told of Laurence’s passing, remembers him this way, "Like you, I was also a sixth form classmate of Laurence. Although I now reside in New York, our ties to the College allowed us to maintain contact through Q.R.C. North America Inc. and we assisted him when he traveled to the US with the Q.R.C. athletic team this year. I would like to add that Laurence exemplified what education at Q.R.C. stands for, and that is all round excellence and striving to help others also. He was and will continue to be an outstanding role model for those students whose life he touched and will be missed by all. My condolences goes out to his family and I hope that they will take some measure of comfort in knowing that his soul is heaven bound." Indeed, I believe that we can all take comfort in the verse from Psalm 116:15 which tells us, ‘Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.’ Another classmate, Theodore Reddock remembers Laurence getting a relay team together in both of our sixth form years. We won the sliver medal in the intramural sports on both occasions. Even though he was in essence the unofficial team captain, he ran one of the middle legs rather than the anchor to make sure that we had a chance to stay with the leaders.
Laurence the Man Laurence the man was the logical extension of Laurence the boy that I knew. He never really changed. Indeed, his life can be summed up by the poem on friendship entitled ‘A Friend Should be Radical, Fanatical, and Most of All, Mathematical!’ passed on recently by a mutual friend and former scout, Dr. Phaedra Pierre, A Friend Should be Radical, Fanatical, and Most of All, Mathematical! A friend should be radical; They should love you when you're unlovable, Hug you when you're un-huggable, And bear you when you're unbearable. A friend should be fanatical; They should cheer when the whole world boos, Dance when you get good news, And cry when you cry too. But most of all, a friend should be mathematical; They should multiply the joy, Divide the sorrow, Subtract the past, and add to tomorrow, Calculate the need deep in your heart, And always be bigger than the sum of all their parts.
Laurence was all this and more. He was devoted, faithful, dependable, and visionary. When his mother was ill recently with a complaint similar to his, he visited her every day and sang her to until she returned to good health. Oh yes, he had a lovely voice. Members of Grace Chapel remember him taking his one hundred and three year old grandmother to service on the Sunday that he became ill. Obviously, he was quite a bit taller that she is but there he was, holding the hymnal at the appropriate height so that she could follow along. In fact, Laurence was folk song champion at the music festival one year. Having gotten that achievement out of the way, he never returned to defend it. He was a member of the now defunct band ‘Family and Friends’ and in his Upper Sixth year was a finalist on Hazel Ward Redmond’s Teen Talent. It was rumoured that one thing that cost him the contest was his insistence on going to scout camp on the same day as the finals…………and anyone who has been to a scout camp with Laurence knows the toll that that can toke on the voice. He was a doer who saw challenges instead of obstacles. Particularly when it came to his scouts, the response to his friendship, leadership, and mentoring was, in the combined words of Bill Carter, current principal of QRC, and Francis Warner, a life long friend, "His scouts would follow him anywhere with a mixture of love, respect, and devotion. He was Mr. Dependable." In this regard, too, whenever I drove by the stadium, I always glance over to see if his van is in his parking spot. Somehow, once it was there, it seemed as though all was well with the world. On the many jamborees, camps, boating trips, scout concerts, and other scouting activities that Laurence led, he led by example. He would be the first to start setting up camp or cleaning up after the camp. He would be the first to lay out chairs for the annual scout concert and one of the first to start packing them away afterward. He kept focused on the big picture, which was the development of the scouts’ mind, body, and soul. This laser like focus on the larger issues allowed him to keep details in perspective. Accordingly, if he was involved in selling garbage bags to purchase kettledrums for the scout band, he also knew that participation in the band was for the development of the boys. As a result of his efforts, many of his scouts have gone on to excel in diverse fields. Indeed, many get, and have received, academic and athletic, scholarships because of their involvement with Laurence and with scouting. I am told that almost every professional music band in Trinidad and Tobago today has at least one former scout. In fact, Laurence’s vision brought the scout band from a simple bugle and drum corps, which was typical of scout troops at the time, to a full-fledged band capable of much more than taps and heraldry. Everyone thought that he was crazy to do this but it has led to QRC scouts and former QRC Scouts heavily populating both the leadership and the membership of the National Youth Orchestra. To get instruments for the band initially, Laurence enlisted the help of family and friends to either source and/or transport the instruments from the United States to Trinidad. His sisters tell many amusing anecdotes about shipping large musical instruments as personal luggage on flights from the US. Speaking of transporting items around for the scouts, you must hear the story of when they were Air Scouts, the light airplane donated by Br. Blizzard made its way to the grounds at QRC on the McDowall’s family car, driven by his sister Margaret. That particular trip left many a curious bystander and passerby laughing until they cried at a car with a plane wrapped around it heading in the opposite direction of the Piarco airport. Laurence is also a legend among his scouts for another reason. They have never been able to paste him with toothpaste while he was asleep at a camp. I’m told that I can now let out his secret. Prior to the camp, Laurence would sleep very deeply for a couple of days. While at camp, then, he was able to go without sleep or to sleep very lightly. As a result, he has never been pasted. One of the key elements of the QRC scouts is the strong parent network that Laurence created. Major Horace Grannum (TTR ret.) a past Chairman of the parent’s group says of Laurence,
"His commitment to the movement and the people who make up the group was total. Parents were challenged through participation and became a collective instrument in the development of the boys and girls of the QRC Scout Group. In the process, parent’s vision of the movement, and equally their capabilities, were expanded. He was a kind and caring ‘father’ because the scouts were his children, living in the community of all scouts. He made it his business to know the background and circumstances of each scout with whom he came into contact and provided hope for the underprivileged. All Scout Movements do have a parent body, but QRC’s is different . He used the parent body to reach out to the scouts and the wider community whenever help was needed. He created a network by forming peer groups. He tactfully used parents to influence their children. He had the ability to help other people to help themselves positively, and in the process, to achieve. He possessed tremendous foresight and the gift of persuasion. He was an adept manager who defied Drucker, and other theorists, who limit ones span of control to three to five functions. He had an enormous appetite for youth development and activities. He created an environment in which every activity would succeed and grow."
Indeed, Waaz Hosein, another past chairman of the parent group, whose son received a full academic scholarship at a North American University, and who was Laurence’s schoolmate (though senior) called Laurence a co-parent. He says, "Laurence was deeply allied with the parents in the development of their children. Parents saw positive developmental results in their children the more effort that they put into the scout troop. Laurence developed an effective communication system so that every parent could be contacted within twenty-four hours and there are more than 250 active Scouts and Venture Scouts and a large Service Crew of past scouts. Laurence worked to develop and instill ‘old fashioned’ values in the children…………..and they responded instinctively. He imparted leadership skills to the scouts and he empowered people to perform and to excel."
Yet another area of involvement with young people was national athletics programmes. Laurence was responsible for the successful execution of several major athletic meets not the least of which were the now annual NemWil games and the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Junior Championships of 1994. The story is told of a shortfall in funding for registration and Information Technology at the CAC games. Laurence quickly co-opted past, and then present, scouts as well as their parents. QRC athletes became officials, staring, timing, etc. Parents became cafeteria staff. Other QRC students ran the scoreboard. Such was his ability to network and to retrieve an apparently bad situation. Laurence was also very well organized. He planned for events long in advance and sometimes from very far away. One joke was that he chose to study Sports Administration (his first masters degree) so that it would be easier for the scouts to have their sports at the stadium. Indeed, soon after he went to Howard University in the early 1980’s, a long letter arrived with detailed instructions about preparations for scout camps, competitions, and the annual scout show. Almost one and a half years ago, Laurence began discussions about celebrating the ninetieth anniversary of the QRC scout troop in the year 2002. Interestingly, the weekend that he died was the date originally planned for the second Denton Forde concert. I found out that no one seemed to know this. Obviously, he would have been a key person in the organization of it. I came to know because Laurence roundly and soundly fussed with me for not attending last year and so he got me to put the date in my own forward planner.
Laurence’s Legacy Laurence has left us a rich legacy. He has touched and molded many lives. Laurence has effectively mentored a generation of young persons who are busily making a positive mark on their worlds. His capacity for work was such that in the area of scouting alone, the QRC family has put together ten committees to do what he did; they have also determined that they need a few more committees to really do the job. He has left us the richer for having been a part of his mission on this earth. And so, in the words of the character Horatio in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, ‘Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince; and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.’ Laurence my friend, I salute you.
As Remembered by Eric Williams, school-mate, lifelong friend, and Member of Parliament for Port of Spain South. |
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