Today we mourn a great loss. Yet we nonetheless give thanks for the enormous gift we have
been given: to have known a remarkable and loving man, a great friend and father. Neville Oswald
Primus passed peacefully from this life on the morning of October 17th
, 2016. He was born on May 17,
1936 in Los Bajos, Trinidad and Tobago to Jonathan Primus and Elmina Edwards Gittens.
Neville was the third of four siblings. At age thirteen, he lost his father and was forced to join
the work force to help his mother care for their family. He was first employed as a yard boy-he did out
door work for a wealthy family. It was while working as a yard boy he developed a love of fine food and
drinks. Later he became a painter. He painted homes and also was employed to paint oil rigs. The latter
he felt was too dangerous to become his lifelong career and so he sought different employment while
painting the rigs. He later landed a position as a Bus Conductor at Public Transport Service Corporation
(PTSC). This new position required him to leave Los Bajos and moved to Port-of- Spain to begin his new
career.
Neville migrated to the United States in 1990 after completing a 27-year career as a dispatch
supervisor at PTSC. At the time, Trinidad and Tobago was experiencing economic hardship and he
decided to relocate his family to Brooklyn, New York in hopes of giving his children a chance at the
American Dream.
In Brooklyn, he held several positions. First he was a construction worker. Later he was a walking
courier traversing miles in inclement weather to deliver packages daily. Finally, he ended his
employment career a Copy Room Assistant at Norton Publishing in 2006. He was also a sort of unofficial
CEO of an employment agency. He referred many people, men and women for various employment. The
only reward he accepted for his efforts was the satisfaction of knowing that the person got the job.
Neville was a loving father. He did his best to ensure the well-being of his children. He
encouraged all of them to further their education and to get ‘a good job’. One of the first questions
when you met him if you were of school age was “How’s school going?” and if you were older was “How
de wuk going?”
In addition, he loved to cook and share what he cooked with others. Moreover, he was a lover
of a good libation. After inquiring about your school/work situation an invitation for food and drink was
next. He would get very offended if either was turned down. He lived simply- he was happy to make
others feel happy and welcomed.
Neville is preceded in death by his parents Jonathan Primus and Elmina Edwards Gittens; wives
Lenora Johnson-Primus and Margaret Patsy Primus; siblings, Lloyd Primus and Ashby Primus; his
children, Roland Johnson and Shelly-Ann Primus-Sessom.
Our beloved is survived by his: wife, Anne Primus; children Oswald, Mervyn, Errol, Michelle,
Andy and Carlene; grandchildren; Atiyah, Tandica, Soyini, Amaya, Lenora, Aidan, Marc, Sage and Silas;
sisters Luthel Primus, Melvina Primus; sons-in-law Harold and Adam and daughter-in-law Marketta
Primus.
He leaves to mourn his nephews Steve and Russell, nieces; Angela, Bernadine, Judith, Kathleen,
Efuru; friends Cornelius Green, Ms. Theresa Sampson, Mr. Bhagwansingh, Peter Clerk, Margaret Lubin
and countless others; in-laws The McMillans and Johnsons and Josephs