Birth date: Aug 1, 1936 Death date: Aug 13, 2022
Lenburn Patrick Evans was born on August 1, 1936, in Frankfield, Clarendon Jamaica West Indies to Alexander and Laura Evans. He was the third eldest of their six children. Lenburn had a passion for singing and was affectionately n Read Obituary
You say "Uncle Lenburn ", I say "family".
Because of Uncle Lenburn, I knew my family and where I fit in in family . So because of Uncle Lenburn, I knew Aunt Carol and Frances and Karl better than my other family members growing up, first in Jamaica and then in America.
Uncle Lenburn was close to his sisters and to his brother Calvin, my father. He shared how he and my father would hunt birds with slingshots as little boys growing up in Jamaica.
Because of Uncle Lenburn, I spent a few weeks bonding with my grandparents “Mas’ Alec” and “Miss Laur’” one summer (1976 or 1977). Uncle Lenburn made that summer memorable for me because there is nothing more fun for a young kid than spending time with your big cousins. And because of Uncle Lenburn, I was also able to meet Aunt Eva up in Christiana and our Cousins Lois and Ruth and Carol and Hope and Dorothy and Judith and Neil, at Uncle Qutt's house in Mandeville.
Uncle Lenburn always recorded family and took pictures of family in order to connect family and document family. Uncle Lenburn recorded his annual Christmas reunions for posterity. He recorded Kelvin and Frances and Karl and our Cousins as we sang around Uncle Quut's piano in Mandeville. And Uncle Lenburn had the foresight to video tape his interview with Aunt Eva and my Grandma Miss Laur, where she discussed how she met and married my Grandfather. Their voices live on even though they have passed on. I hope that Uncle Lenburn took the time to record himself as well.
So I have great memories with Aunt Carol and Uncle Lenburn from Jamaica. Little did I know that my world would be shattered a year or two later when I would leave Jamaica behind and migrate to America. Once again, Uncle Lenburn was there for me and my father and mother and sister Susan. Uncle Lenburn was waiting for us at JFK Airport in New York, along with my aunts and Uncle Juan and took us in his capacious Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight. Getting in Uncle Lenburn's car and going to my first meal in my new life in America - McDonald's. And although I can not tell you whether I ate hamburgers, shakes or fries, fillet ‘o fish or apple pies, I can assure you that Uncle Lenburn's presence brought me much-needed comfort on that snowy winter night and suggested that maybe everything was going to be all right.
So in my new life in America, Aunt Joyce was so affirming to me. When we lost Aunt Joyce way too soon, I remember Uncle Lenburn taking over as my affirmer, when I used a phrase in conversation and someone challenged me, Uncle Lenburn - a childhood orator - publicly but calmly said that yes, I had used the phrase - "apoplectic fit", I believe - correctly and in context. I appreciate Uncle Lenburn for affirming me as Aunt Joyce always had. Yes, it's one thing to pull out the family tree and show where you fit in genetically because of biology, but it's another thing altogether to affirm that you fit in "sentimentally", not because they have to but because they legitimately care for you.
So Aunt Carol, thank you for lovingly caring for Uncle Lenburn. And just one more note: My father Calvin always speaks fondly of his dear brother Lenburn. So when my father occasionally calls me "Lenburn" by mistake, I take it in stride:
It’s a complement.
