Former national footballer to be buried tomorrow

Former national footballer Charles “Luxie” Quashie will be laid to rest tomorrow, Wednesday, August 25, at the Kingstown Cemetery, following a funeral service at the St. George’s Cathedral in Kingstown.{{more}}

Quashie died last Thursday at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital after a battle with colon cancer.

He died 11 days short of his 67th birthday.

Former team mates of Luxie, as he was more popularly known, remember him mostly for his robust play on the Football field.

Fred Trimmingham regarded him as a no nonsense defender, as both shared roles in the back four for St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the mid 1960s.

Trimmingham, also a mean defender in his heyday, said of Luxie that “he was a strong tackler”.

Luxie, who played for the Saints in the local Football competitions, also in the 1960s, is remembered by Mike Findlay in a similar fashion.

“Luxie was a very good defender, a little bit robust, but he was agile for his size,” Findlay recalled.

Findlay, who kept goal for the Saints and the national team, said he played with Luxie on those two teams.

“When Luxie was in my defence, I felt safe in the goal. He was a loyal teammate and one who would break the ice when things were a bit uptight in the team, as he was a real jovial person,” Findlay added.

According to Findlay, despite Luxie’s aggression on the field, he had a soft side.

“Once we were playing against Grenada, and Luxie accidentally broke a Grenadian’s leg. Luxie bawled like a child, he really felt it,” Findlay recounted.

Also a former employee at the Forestry Division in the Ministry of Agriculture, Luxie attended the St. Vincent Grammar School, with musical maestro Frankie Mc Intosh being one of his contemporaries.

Luxie is survived by sisters: Brenda Quashie- Crawford in England, Joan Persaud in Trinidad and Tobago and Jackie Quashie in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Brothers Castine, Curtis aka “Boza” and Russell Quashie residing here, while Winston “Sparrow” Samuel, Peter “Buggy” Alexander, Mc Inniss Thomas and Cyril “Scorcher” Thomas living in the United States of America.

Luxie is also survived by seven children, four boys: Curt, Gilbert and Keaque Quashie, and Anthony Dennie as well as three girls: Celicia, Charlene and Lexie Quashie and step-children Dale De Riggs and Wayne Primus. (RT)