By Racquel Porter
Hundreds of mourners gathered at Webster Memorial United Church on Friday for the thanksgiving service for broadcaster and producer Arif Cooper.
Cooper reportedly collapsed while playing at a party at the Police Officers' Club in St. Andrew on March 5.
He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
In a tribute on behalf of the RJRGLEANER Communications Group, Derrick Wilks, Programmes Manager for FAME and Power 106, described the late DJ as dependable.
"Arif was one of the first persons the RJRGLEANER Group considered when the pandemic threatened to slow our operations and we had to quickly pivot to the FAME Frequency online party series. He was a regular and he was a party puller, professional, dependable, reliable, down to earth," Wilks said.
"From playing music from his terabyte external hard drive on the FAME road parties to now spinning celestial sounds on serrata in the big sky box, fly high my Griffin brother. Fervet," he added, paying tribute to the Jamaica College Old Boy.
Arif's siblings, Arianna, Abean and Akiri delivered a heartfelt remembrance. Arianna, who grew up with Arif as his closest sibling, admitted that her blood pressure has increased since her brother's death.
"The doctor said to me, I don't have to ask what you bond is with your brother because your blood pressure level says it all," she recalled, as she thanked Arif for "loving me from day one, literally".
"Arif would come home from prep school on the days that grandma - our grandma was a teacher at the school that we went to, vice principal. On the days that he would be allowed to take a patty for lunch, he would eat half and bring the other half home for me with a pocket full of sweets and a smile on his face, always ready to get up to some grand mischief. Looking back on our relationship, I can see that in true Gemini fashion, you didn't want just a sibling, you wanted a twin," she shared.
In addition to his siblings, Arif is survived by his three children as well as his parents, Ibo and Joy.
