Monday
17th August 2020
11
am
St
Anthony's of Padua Catholic Church
5
Garratt Road
Edgware
HA8 9AN
Cresenti
Florence Daniel Fernandes passed away peacefully on Friday 31st July in Harrow,
UK, in his 85th year, with family at his side. He was the loving and devoted
husband of Thelma, devoted father of Caroline (Richard), and sons: late
Valentino, Douglas (Idoia) and Christopher. He was also the cherished
grandfather of Nerea, Monica and Alex. He is predeceased by his siblings Elias,
Rita Gracias, Theo, Moses, Lucy and Joe and survived by brother Thomas.
Cresent
was born in Nairobi in 1935, to parents Bella and Martin.
Despite a difficult start in life, his father passing away when he was 2 and
1/2 years old, and thanks mainly to his older siblings, Cresent managed to
succeed with distinction in his professional and personal life. Part of his
success was his partnership with Thelma who he married at Holy Family Cathedral
in Nairobi in 1962.
He
started his professional career as a life insurance adviser with Old Mutual
Insurance Company in Kenya in 1951, where he stayed until 1976, regularly
achieving top producer status of new business. His success continued with
American Life Insurance Company (ALICO), also in Kenya. On coming to England
in1983, Cresent joined ALICO’s Agency 237 in Wembley, the following year. His
consistently high production of quality business resulted in a Life Membership
of the Executive Club, as well as Conventions in Portugal, Amsterdam, Rio de
Janeiro, Madrid, Monte Carlo, Vienna, Tenerife, Paris and on a cruise around
the Caribbean. He became a member of the “Million Dollar Round Table”. When
asked why he was successful, he said a great deal of his new business came from
satisfying the needs of existing clients.
In
the early 1990s, he established himself as an Independent Financial Adviser. His
professional advice, which extended to those beyond the Goan community, enabled
many people to purchase their first homes and establish their financial
security. His exceptional persistency ratio indicated just how much confidence
his clients had in his advice and the products he offered them.
In
his personal life, Cresent was a keen sportsman and a very sociable man – this
combination led to his active participation in the life of the Railway Goan
Institute (RGI) and the Goan Institute (Gi) in Nairobi. He was President of the
Gi in 1971-72 and Chairman in 1977-78. He led the Gi’s 75th-anniversary
celebrations committee in 1980 at the Kenyatta Conference Centre. During his
term as President, he raised sponsorship for the renovations to the bar and
kitchenette area and the building of two squash courts, which was a new sports
facility for the club.
In
his youth, he took part in all sports, his two favourite ones being field
athletics and hockey. He was a founder member of the Spartan Athletic Team, the
forerunner of all the track and field clubs in Kenya, and excelled at shot put.
In field hockey, his team won the Gold Cup tournament (A photograph of this
hangs in the Gi today). He was Sportsman Of The Year in 1974. He was also on
the Kenyan Billiards Society committee and brought well-known players of the
day to Kenya to compete. When not on the sports fields, he enjoyed playing
cards, Trook and Rummy.
After
retiring from active team sports, Cresent was recruited to be the General
Secretary of the Kenya Goan Sports Association, a body representing all Goan
sporting clubs in Kenya. They were entrusted by the donor, to organise the
prestigious M. R. de Souza ‘Gold Cup’ Field Hockey tournament in Nairobi, which
attracted many of the top field hockey teams in East Africa. His organising
skills raised the profile of this tournament, which became internationally
recognised as a premier annual event in Kenya’s sporting calendar and
contributed vastly to the improvement and interest in the sport.
He
broadened community horizons, by seizing opportunities to introduce famous
personalities to them, such as Valerian Cardinal Gracias of Mumbai, Miss
Universe, Reita Faria, Billards/Snooker champions Michael Ferreira and Wilson
Jones, US Roving Olympic Ambassador & Olympic Medal Athlete Mal Whitfield.
As
a pillar of the Goan community, he was selected by the British High Commission
to represent the Goans in Nairobi, where he assisted many people with their
passport applications for emigrating to the UK.
In
2004, with the collaboration of Ayres Fernandes, Dorothy DaCosta, Norma Menezes
Rahim, Eunice Barros and Tony Joe, Cresent organised the first ex-Catholic
Parochial and St Teresa’s student reunion. This event grew in popularity with
the 2017 event attended by ex-students from overseas.
He
was especially proud of his children and grandchildren and will be greatly
missed by them and by all in the community which he served.
He
was a very popular, affable, down-to-earth, but larger than life personality.
He will be best remembered for his generosity of heart and his willingness to
help anyone in need. Due to him having the rarest blood type, he donated blood regularly
to the local hospital, which would also contact him in an emergency. This
underlined his selfless personality. He was a big man with a big heart and the
epitome of a socialite – anything for a party – from organising a small
get-together at the Regency Club in Queensbury/extended family picnics/dinner
parties/larger events at home to parties at the office, where partners and
their children were also invited. He was in his element organising events, but
more importantly, loved seeing people enjoying themselves. He would always say,
‘Have one for the road’ before you left an occasion. Please do so in his
honour.
In
lieu of flowers, please offer a Mass for the soul of Cresent Fernandes at your
local church or make a donation to the Goan Welfare Society Nairobi.
Condolence
messages can be sent to d.fernandes@ntlworld.com
May his soul rest in eternal peace.
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