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The community is in mourning over the passing of Lennox Charles. The well-loved community worker and promoter of Black and Caribbean culture died on Thursday, February 1, two days after he was struck by a snow clearing tractor as he was returning home from church around 5:30 in the evening.
A native of Trinidad and Tobago, Charles migrated to Montreal in the 1960s and carved out a stable career at the Jewish general Hospital where he worked for several decades and helped many community members find jobs or accessed services.
He was a dedicated and long-time member of the Cote des Neiges Black Community Association, serving as president for an extended period in 1990s.
He was also a foundational member of Roots Cultural Association, the organized and successful masquerade group in Carifiesta, the annual Caribbean parade.
Under his stewardship, Roots brought the music, culture and dance of Trinidad and Tobago to festivals across Canada and Quebec, including the Winter Carnival.
Len, as he was popularly known, comes from one of Trinidad’s most celebrated musical families.
His son Gregory is an iconic Quebec entertainer, who has performed around the world to great acclaim.
His nephew, K-Os, is also an internationally recognized musician and hip hop star.
In T&T, the Charles name is synonymous with steelpan music.
His brother Rudolph, also deceased, was the iconic leader of one of the islands most celebrated steelband, Desperadoes. He was an innovative pan tuner who was responsible for many new musical inventions in the steelpan world.
In Montreal, he distinguished himself by his love of community, and as an advocate for youth.
He was also a dedicated husband to his late wife and to his son.
Messages of condolences continue to pour in with news of his passing, including from Mayor Valerie Plante.
His funeral will be held on Friday, Feb-9 3:00pm at St.Viateur d’Outremount Church, 1175 Avenue Laurier O. Outremont, QC H2V 3R5
Tribute to a father
My dad, Lennox Charles, was a great man. Not an intellectual, not an orator, not a star. Simply a great man.
He was a kind and devoted son to his parents, a generous and very involved citizen in the workplace and in the community, a loving and adoring husband to the love of his life, my mother, and a constant and silent hero to his son.
He loved life and those entrusted to him with all his strength, with all his heart and with unwavering faith.
Although he longed to be with his departed wife again, he expressed every day the same optimism and spiritual enlightenment that had defined him since his early years.
On his way back from St-Joseph’s Oratory where he attended mass every day, a snow removal vehicle struck him. The impact was violent and ultimately fatal.
We are heartbroken as are those whose lives he touched and changed.
His light has dimmed, but his spirit will endure in us.
Gregory Charles
Tribute to an Uncle
On behalf of my family, I want to thank everyone who called, texted, emailed, what’s apped, Facebooked, whatever way of communication to convey their condolences on the passing of my uncle Lennox Charles. He was a Very Special Person who loved life and most of all who Loved his Family. Last year January he lost the Love of his Life, his wife, and was not the same since. So this January the Lord answered his prayers and took him to be with his Love. We are so deeply saddened by his passing and the way he was taken from us, but we are not in control of our final departure, only God is.
Uncle Lennox you will be missed but Never Forgotten. R.I.P. Your Loving Niece, Cheryl and Family.
