FAMILY MOURNS CARNIVAL ICON, TEDDER EUSTACE
By Gizelle Morris
Trinidad Guardian
December 31, 2001
Page 1
The sun, with its merciless heat, beat down on the simple two-storey house at Sellier Street, St Augustine, where the impassive hands of death left its indelible mark, not only on a family but the local Carnival fraternity.
Masmaker and bandleader, Tedder Eustace, 56, died in his sleep yesterday morning at his St Augustine home.
Eustace, whose body was discovered by his wife around 7 am, was known to be suffering from a heart condition.
It is reported he died from a massive heart attack.
Winner of the National King of Carnival title in 1975, 1977 and 1988, Eustace was also the recipient of the Humming Bird Medal (Silver) in 1999 for his contribution to culture.
Yesterday, as Eustace's friends and relatives gathered at his home, his wife of 33 years, Germaine remained invisible to the eyes of strangers.
Eustace's third son, Ted, told reporters his mother was very distraught and unable to grant interviews.
As the undertakers arrived to take away Eustace's body, his wife, previously silent, raised her voice in a heart-rending cry.
"Oh, no. Don't take him... Oh God, no!"
The voice choked with raw emotion cracked and wavered as the two undertakers, heads bowed, left the room where Eustace's body lay.
A few minutes later, the curtains in the room were raised and Germaine's sobs abated to quiet whimper and then faded.
In the porch and living room decorated with balloons, relatives huddled together and looked on sadly as the gurney carrying Eustace's body was wheeled to the waiting van.
Eustace's younger brother, Follette, also a Carnival costume designer said his brother's death was a shocking blow to the family.
Follette, who designs costumes for regional Carnivals along with London's Notting Hill festival and Toronto's Caribana, said his brother was working on costumes for Carnival 2002.
Ted also spoke of the work his father had undertaken for the coming season.
"We were working on a 2002 king, it was going to be a surprise for everybody. It is not a traditional mas, it is really different in many ways," Ted said with his eyes filled with tears.
However, he was not sure whether the work his father had begun would ever take to the Carnival stage.
"With my father's death, I don't know if the Eustaces will be doing anything for 2002," he said.
His brother Curtis, the 2000 King of Carnival, has lived in Canada for the past 16 years and is expected to arrive in Trinidad today.
Curtis, the eldest of Eustace's four children, has taken over his father's throne, Follette said.
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Tedder Eustace was an exceptional costume designer and won the North Carnival King Competition on 11 occasions. He also won the Male Individual Award 15 times.
In 1991, he was the Downtown Carnival King.
At Caribana in Canada, he has won the Carnival King title for the past five years.
In 1989, he threatened to boycott National Carnival Commission's competition at the Queen's Park Savannah because he was not allowed to use drummers on stage instead of music supplied by the police or regiment bands.