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Anyone here remember that popular local gospel group of the 1970s, David Keane and the Sunshine Singers? I can distinctly recall as a youth going to several of their concerts and enjoying that group’s presentations. At some point the group experienced tragedy when its steel guitar player (a young Chinese man whose name I cannot remember) died after a long illness.
Many years later, somewhere around the turn of the century, Keane’s lovely wife Denver, the highly trained keyboard player with the group, also died from cancer.
But I remember with nostalgia David Keane’s gospel work which, like those of his contemporaries of the 1970s such as the Grace Thrillers, and later groups like the Insights gospel band and the Maranatha Affair, paved the path for the development of modern gospel music in Jamaica. The last concert I went to featuring Keane and his group was the Andrae Crouch concert in the early 1980s at the Ranny Williams Centre.
It is indeed truly saddening to see the turn that Keane’s life has taken since his stroke in 2003 (or was it 2002?).
Hoping for a miracle
Wife of Pastor David Keane thinks husband will recover from illness
BY NADINE WILSON Sunday Observer staff reporter wilsonn@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Seven years after Pastor David Keane suffered a massive stroke during one of his fiery sermons, his wife, Paulette, is still hoping for a miracle.
Prophet David Keane, who seven years ago got a stroke while delivering a sermon. (Photos: Naphtali Junior)
"The stroke has left him helpless. There is nothing he can do (for himself), everything is being done for him," his wife of eight years, Paulette Keane told the Sunday Observer.
Still, she is confident that God is going to work a miracle.
"I want my husband to get up, I would love that, and I believe he is going to get up. I believe that God has him down for a reason and we don't know what that reason is," she said.
The stroke happened just one year after the couple had tied the knot. With it, Keane lost his sight and his ability to communicate with anyone. For Paulette, who was a widow when she met Keane, the situation was painful.
"How would you feel?" she asked when quizzed as to how she felt about her inability to communicate with her husband. "It was devastating, it was devastating. But I really believe God gives you that strength to overcome everything. I depend on God for everything; I give Him all my problems. I can't do it on my own, it's a tough walk, so I depend on him."
Paulette Keane, wife of David Keane, makes a point during a recent interview with the Sunday Observer.
Paulette has also been depending heavily on her church family who has been assisting her with taking care of Keane's medical bills while offering spiritual support.
"I have really good friends who have been supporting me, because I really believe that God puts certain people in your life to help you go through the different circumstances in your life. Everybody have their seasons," she said.
Keane spent three months at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston after getting the stroke. He was subsequently discharged to the family home where he has remained ever since.
Because she has to work during the days, Paulette said a nurse is always at home to ensure that her husband is taken care of.
"It's not cheap to get sick in Jamaica. It is very expensive, because you have the nurses, you have the medication, then you have the doctors who come and visit to assess the situation," she said.
While there were probably times when she could have 'strayed' during her husband's illness, Paulette said she remained grounded in God and committed to the vows the two had taken to be with each other in sickness and health.
"We don't realise how important a vow is. It is a commitment. We made a vow before God and I have to fulfil that, and would stay with my husband - regardless of what happened. I am committed," she said.
Admittedly, in the beginning it was hard for the mother of one child to cope. The couple was very much in love and had great plans for the future. No one could have foresees what happened.
"It was tough in the beginning, but I think you adjust your life to it, so that it comes automatically. Because you say, 'Okay Lord, this is what happened, you need to take me through this, you need to be with me every single day of my life', and that's what he has been doing," she said.
Coupled with dealing with her husband's illness, Paulette has had to learn how to deal with the rumours surrounding her relationship with the pastor. Some speculate that she was romantically involved with him before his first wife, Denver, died. Denver passed away a year before he and Paulette went to the altar.
"People will always talk and you can't get away from it. You just have to not really focus on what people say, as long as you know you are doing something right. There is a scripture in the Bible which says, 'It is not good for a man to be alone'. People can say whatever they want to say, it doesn't control my life, as long as I know what am I doing," she told the Sunday Observer.
Paulette said she is glad she had not waited a moment longer to marry her husband.
"Think of it like this, it is a good thing that we didn't wait, because remember it's one year (later that he had the stroke). I understand why people would think like that, but I really believe that God speaks to him and he felt that it was the right time. I said, 'You know it was kind of soon', but then after this whole thing, I mean I only got like one year and two months. What would have happened if it was left to man?" she questioned. "God's timing is right, and we don't understand why. I have no regrets. I love my husband dearly and I will stick with him until the Lord decides."
Pastor of the Church on the Rock, Franz Fletcher, said Keane's ministry had left an indelible mark on the society on a whole.
"We express our gratitude to those who have prayed and those who continue to pray. Because he was so well known across the island, anywhere I go people continue to ask me about him - some of them I don't even know - but they are always asking me for him, seeking after his welfare," he said.
Paulette said her husband was known for his caring nature. This is something she misses about him.
"He has a personality that even if you get upset with him, he will make you laugh. That's one thing I remember about him. He was very kind and he had a heart for the call and he had a heart for the people, and I still look at him and say, 'God really made you special'. He had a lot of compassion for other people," she said.
Paulette said the pastor's four daughters have also been trying to cope with his illness.
"It is hard for them. Just think, your mother died and your father becomes ill," she said.
For herself, she said: "I am just taking it one day at a time. A lot of my friends always say, they don't know how I do it, because they couldn't do it; but I believe God put everybody in a situation. Remember God knows us before we were even conceived. I really believe God says 'Okay, I am going to put this person in this situation because I am going to give them the strength to deal with it'," she said.
Many years later, somewhere around the turn of the century, Keane’s lovely wife Denver, the highly trained keyboard player with the group, also died from cancer.
But I remember with nostalgia David Keane’s gospel work which, like those of his contemporaries of the 1970s such as the Grace Thrillers, and later groups like the Insights gospel band and the Maranatha Affair, paved the path for the development of modern gospel music in Jamaica. The last concert I went to featuring Keane and his group was the Andrae Crouch concert in the early 1980s at the Ranny Williams Centre.
It is indeed truly saddening to see the turn that Keane’s life has taken since his stroke in 2003 (or was it 2002?).
Hoping for a miracle
Wife of Pastor David Keane thinks husband will recover from illness
BY NADINE WILSON Sunday Observer staff reporter wilsonn@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Seven years after Pastor David Keane suffered a massive stroke during one of his fiery sermons, his wife, Paulette, is still hoping for a miracle.
Prophet David Keane, who seven years ago got a stroke while delivering a sermon. (Photos: Naphtali Junior) "The stroke has left him helpless. There is nothing he can do (for himself), everything is being done for him," his wife of eight years, Paulette Keane told the Sunday Observer.
Still, she is confident that God is going to work a miracle.
"I want my husband to get up, I would love that, and I believe he is going to get up. I believe that God has him down for a reason and we don't know what that reason is," she said.
The stroke happened just one year after the couple had tied the knot. With it, Keane lost his sight and his ability to communicate with anyone. For Paulette, who was a widow when she met Keane, the situation was painful.
"How would you feel?" she asked when quizzed as to how she felt about her inability to communicate with her husband. "It was devastating, it was devastating. But I really believe God gives you that strength to overcome everything. I depend on God for everything; I give Him all my problems. I can't do it on my own, it's a tough walk, so I depend on him."
Paulette Keane, wife of David Keane, makes a point during a recent interview with the Sunday Observer. Paulette has also been depending heavily on her church family who has been assisting her with taking care of Keane's medical bills while offering spiritual support.
"I have really good friends who have been supporting me, because I really believe that God puts certain people in your life to help you go through the different circumstances in your life. Everybody have their seasons," she said.
Keane spent three months at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston after getting the stroke. He was subsequently discharged to the family home where he has remained ever since.
Because she has to work during the days, Paulette said a nurse is always at home to ensure that her husband is taken care of.
"It's not cheap to get sick in Jamaica. It is very expensive, because you have the nurses, you have the medication, then you have the doctors who come and visit to assess the situation," she said.
While there were probably times when she could have 'strayed' during her husband's illness, Paulette said she remained grounded in God and committed to the vows the two had taken to be with each other in sickness and health.
"We don't realise how important a vow is. It is a commitment. We made a vow before God and I have to fulfil that, and would stay with my husband - regardless of what happened. I am committed," she said.
Admittedly, in the beginning it was hard for the mother of one child to cope. The couple was very much in love and had great plans for the future. No one could have foresees what happened.
"It was tough in the beginning, but I think you adjust your life to it, so that it comes automatically. Because you say, 'Okay Lord, this is what happened, you need to take me through this, you need to be with me every single day of my life', and that's what he has been doing," she said.
Coupled with dealing with her husband's illness, Paulette has had to learn how to deal with the rumours surrounding her relationship with the pastor. Some speculate that she was romantically involved with him before his first wife, Denver, died. Denver passed away a year before he and Paulette went to the altar.
"People will always talk and you can't get away from it. You just have to not really focus on what people say, as long as you know you are doing something right. There is a scripture in the Bible which says, 'It is not good for a man to be alone'. People can say whatever they want to say, it doesn't control my life, as long as I know what am I doing," she told the Sunday Observer.
Paulette said she is glad she had not waited a moment longer to marry her husband.
"Think of it like this, it is a good thing that we didn't wait, because remember it's one year (later that he had the stroke). I understand why people would think like that, but I really believe that God speaks to him and he felt that it was the right time. I said, 'You know it was kind of soon', but then after this whole thing, I mean I only got like one year and two months. What would have happened if it was left to man?" she questioned. "God's timing is right, and we don't understand why. I have no regrets. I love my husband dearly and I will stick with him until the Lord decides."
Pastor of the Church on the Rock, Franz Fletcher, said Keane's ministry had left an indelible mark on the society on a whole.
"We express our gratitude to those who have prayed and those who continue to pray. Because he was so well known across the island, anywhere I go people continue to ask me about him - some of them I don't even know - but they are always asking me for him, seeking after his welfare," he said.
Paulette said her husband was known for his caring nature. This is something she misses about him.
"He has a personality that even if you get upset with him, he will make you laugh. That's one thing I remember about him. He was very kind and he had a heart for the call and he had a heart for the people, and I still look at him and say, 'God really made you special'. He had a lot of compassion for other people," she said.
Paulette said the pastor's four daughters have also been trying to cope with his illness.
"It is hard for them. Just think, your mother died and your father becomes ill," she said.
For herself, she said: "I am just taking it one day at a time. A lot of my friends always say, they don't know how I do it, because they couldn't do it; but I believe God put everybody in a situation. Remember God knows us before we were even conceived. I really believe God says 'Okay, I am going to put this person in this situation because I am going to give them the strength to deal with it'," she said.