LADY THELMA HOCHOY

FIRST AND ALWAYS … A LADY

Sunday Guardian

September 17, 2000

Page 7

Sonja Sinaswee found Thelma Hochoy, who was Trinidad and Tobago's "First Lady", reflecting on her 90 years as wife of Governor-General Sir Solomon Hochoy.

Ninety years ago today, a beautiful baby girl was born to Peter and Lilla Huggins, owners of a dry goods store in Ste Madeleine.

This simple country girl, christened Thelma Huggins, would grow up to become the wife of a respected leader during Trinidad and Tobago's colonial days, and more importantly, to carve her own place in this country's history.

Her name is Lady Thelma Hochoy, widow of Sir Solomon Hochoy, the last Governor General of this country. She also is founder of the Lady Hochoy Home. Today, Hochoy, affectionately known as "The Lady", celebrates her 90^th birthday - a day marked by a Thanksgiving mass and a celebratory lunch with family and friends.

I first met the Lady when she turned 88 in 1998. I visited her during a birthday celebration at her home on Alcazar Street in St Clair.

This time, two years later, my interview took me to the other of the country - Valsayn - where the Lady has been living with her daughter and son-in-law for almost two years.

"We had been trying to persuade her for some time (to move in with us)," explained her daughter, Joyce Chinasing.

"She's very independent and she lived in that house (on Alcazar Street) since 1948, so leaving was difficult. But she couldn't live by herself anymore."

A hip injury, which she suffered a few years ago, began to take its toll on her health, and other complications of aging - arthritis, hearing loss and memory lapses - became more debilitating.

So the Lady gave her St Clair home to the Order of the Carmelite Nuns and moved in with her daughter.

"She's getting weaker every day," Chinasing said frankly, when asked about her mother's health, "but she still has a lot of life in her."

This the Lady confirmed as she emerged, supported by a walker, from the living room of the Queen Elizabeth Street house.

"I'm not feeling good. You eh see I could scarcely walk?" she said, all the while smiling.

The sparkle in her eyes I observed two years ago is still very present. The Lady has been honoured with several awards, including one from the Pope. She has even been offered the Trinity Cross for her work, but the Lady refused, because she felt she was undeserving of such an honour.

Her greatest achievement, she said, was the establishment of the Lady Hochoy Home in Cocorite, in existence for 42 years now.

"There wasn't a home for retarded children when we decided to open one," she said.

The Lady noted this year's opening of the Parent / Teacher's Resource Centre at the Home in Cocorite. She also said she was looking forward to the completion of the Blanchisseuse Presbytery, a project on which she worked diligently to raise funds.

"She is not physically able to contribute anymore," Chinasing said, "but the Home is always her concern."

When asked about her birthday plans, the Lady grinned and said: "You have to ask Mrs. Chinasing. I hear she's organising a party. But I not studying no birthday."

"It's a long time, yuh know - 90 years. I suppose I have to do something," she added.

Although her "brains not good anymore," as she stated, the Lady is very cognisant of her mortality.

"I'm just waiting until the good Lord says he's ready for me," she said at the end of the interview, to which her daughter quickly responded: "Not yet. You have to stay with me for a little while yet."

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