Sinanan knew he would die young

That’s how Roman Catholic priest Father Clyde Harvey yesterday described the sudden death of 26-year-old Matthew Joel Sinanan and the impact on the Sinanan family, friends and the wider San Fernando community.

Delivering the homily at Sinanan’s funeral service at Our Lady of Perpetual Help RC Church, Harris Promenade, San Fernando, Harvey told mourners that Sinanan was snatched away at a time when he was “trying to understand and trying to love.”

Sinanan, the nephew of Speaker, Barry Sinanan, was killed in a car accident on the north-bound lane of the Solomon Hochoy Highway, in the vicinity of Mid Centre Mall, Chaguanas, last Sunday. He is the son of Dr Joel Sinanan, executive medical director of the South-West Regional Health Authority.

Harvey remembered Sinanan as a “young, vibrant, and fun-loving” person who had just begun to reveal his true purpose.

He told the large congregation, which included Senate President Dr Linda Baboolal and San Fernando West MP Diane Seukeran, that Sinanan was a “seeker” who was doing his best to “try to understand and try to love.”

Harvey told mourners, “The Sinanan family was struck by a meteorite and in this time of mourning, they must come together as a family in faith.”

Presentation College principal Brother Michael Samuel, described Sinanan as a person who “enjoyed life” with a disarming smile and pleasant personality.

The congregation was told that Sinanan, a graduate of Western University, Canada, in economics, recently got a job with Agostini Pharmacueticals. But, according to Samuel, had confided to his mother, Indira, that he would die at a young age.

Several of Sinanan’s friends broke down while paying tribute to a man they also described as a brother.

The body was later cremated in a private ceremony at Belgrove’s Crematorium, Coffee Street, San Fernando.