Supported by her children and relatives, June Benjamin, mother of deceased arranger mourns the passing of her son Sheldon Benjamin fondly known as Shel Shok at The Good Shepherd Anglican Church, Freeling Street, Tunapuna. Photo: Marcus Gonzales

Clutching her stomach, June Benjamin wailed, “Meh belly hurting me.” She was mourning the loss of her son Sheldon Benjamin, 39, fondly known as Shel Shok, an accomplished music arranger, who succumbed to non-Hodgkins lymphoma on June 15. According to the June issue of Newsweek, it was the same disease that felled the Shah of Persia at age 60. Supported by her daughters Carlene, Camille and son Garvin, and other relatives she was led out of The Good Shepherd Anglican Church, Freeling Street, Tunapuna, yesterday.

Prior to the recessional hymn, Canon Kenley Baldeo implored the congregation to honour Benjamin’s legacy by striving to live purposefully. “I agree with his brother Garvin (eulogist). We have lost an icon and a genius. Take the skills and talents that you have been given and honour him in song. Sheldon stood for morality and spirituality. After nine days do not let his worth go to waste,” said Baldeo.

He also made reference to the Biblical sower who planted wheat.
“For Sheldon it is harvest time. The fields have borne fruit. His fields were not in the canals.” He said it was imperative that people cultivate wheat and not dharnel, since everyone will have to give an account to the maker. “Death is the last frontier... the eternal divide. It is the only journey from which we cannot return.”

Tributes for Shel Shok
Benjamin said his brother, a past student of St Augustine Senior Comprehensive, got his big break when he went to Caribbean Sound Basin “to put down tracks.” On a lighter note, he said, “He could have gotten a doctorate in any profession except English. Ask him to spell ‘blackmail’ and ‘yes.’”

He also said his “shy” brother was misunderstood. “He was passionate, persistent and goal-oriented,” Benjamin said. His father Lennox Benjamin reminisced on “the four-year-old who spun his records on the floor.” Benjamin said, “His talent was no accident. It was predestination.” He led the congregation in singing the hymn Because He Lives. It temporarily shelved the pain both parents felt at Benjamin’s passing. Before taking his seat, he raised his hand in salute to his beloved child.