Family anguish after woman's death

The 64-year-old daughter of labour pioneer Dr E.F Gordon and sister to former Premier Dame Pamela Gordon and MP Pat Gordon-Pamplin was found dead at the family homestead in Hamilton.

Her body had lay undiscovered at the home “for some time” according to police.

Ms Corrent was described yesterday as an “absolute sweetheart” — a vivacious, fun person and the inspiration for her sisters’ political careers.

In her latter years, say family and friends, she had become withdrawn, sometimes reclusive, and chose to live alone at the Victoria Street home.

Ms. Gordon-Pamplin, currently Shadow Minister of Public Works, said she had been shocked by her sister’s death.

“It was a shock to all of us. Nobody anticipated that was going to be her end.”

She said she and her sister had been very close as children but had seen less of each other in recent years.

“As time goes on your lives take different directions. My schedule is busy, my life is busy, we didn’t spend much time together recently but if she ever needed anything she knew where to come.

“There was always somebody around. She was just adorable.

“She chose to be alone in the last few years but she had a lot of friends. The number of people that have called over the last couple of days is just amazing.”

The exact cause of Ms Corrent’s death has not been explained. Police released a brief statement confirming she had died of “natural causes”.

Ms Gordon-Pamplin was not willing to discuss the circumstances yesterday.

She said she would remember her sister as “Miss Personality” — a bright, loving person who travelled the world, spoke fluent Italian and inspired her to enter political life.

Sweetheart

“She was an absolute sweetheart. She was very forthright — more forthright than me.”

From an early age, says Ms Gordon-Pamplin, her older sister was influential in her life.

Sometimes that landed her in trouble. Ms Gordon-Pamplin was eleven and her sister was 15 when they were both “deemed incorrigible and shipped off to boarding school in Jamaica”.

“We got up to all the mischief in the world. When Chubby Checker came to Jamaica to do a show, he invited us up on stage to compete in a twist-off contest, which I did with a lot of encouragement from Olympia.

“The headmistress of the school found out about it and called me into her office to say — ‘ladies do not do wild gyrations in public’.”

Her sister continued to have an influence in later life, inspiring her to get involved in politics.

Growing up in a political family, the legacy of their father Dr. E.F. Gordon loomed large.

Dr Gordon founded the labour movement on the island and was instrumental in the early stages of the struggle to win equal voting rights for black Bermudians.

Olympia, who was nine when he died, was the first to follow her father into politics, becoming chairperson of the Pembroke East Central branch of the United Bermuda Party and later convincing her sister to become deputy.

“She was influential in my political development, exposure and upbringing,” Ms Gordon-Pamplin said.

“She always wanted to be the strategist, she never wanted to be an MP herself. She was proud as punch, though, when our sister Pam became Premier and when I became an MP.

“She was very encouraging to me – whenever I said anything in the House she would call me up and say ‘you go get ‘em’.”

Ms Corrent married an Italian, Luigi Corrent, whom she met in Bermuda.

They have one son, Claudio, who lives in Italy.

“Her absolute proudest moment was when her son Claudio became a doctor in engineering,” Ms Gordon-Pamplin said.

Her husband’s work for Hotels International took them all round the world. Even after their divorce she travelled extensively and spent much of her adult life in a variety of different countries including Mexico, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo), Liberia and Switzerland.

She had been back in Bermuda for almost 20 years at the time of her death.

Popular and outgoing in her early life, Ms Corrent spent her career in the hospitality industry working at a variety of hotels and restaurants, including Fourways Inn and La Trattoria.

Friend Verneil Simons said she was a fun person to be around.

“She was just the epitome of elegance – an absolutely awesome individual. She was fun loving and enjoyed sharing that with people.

“She was such a laugh. She didn’t hold back and she would argue with you until the cows came home. And if they didn’t come home she would still be arguing.

“I was really sad to hear of her death. My cousin heard about it on the news at the weekend and said ‘I hope it’s not Lympy’. There aren’t many houses on that street.”

She said her friend had become more and more withdrawn in recent years.

“She had periods of being a bit reclusive but we stayed in touch. I tried to reach out to her from time to time.”

Friend Pat Ferguson said she shared many good times with Ms Corrent, such as going to ‘The Club’ in the 1980s.

“We girls would go out on the town and celebrate each other. She was very intelligent, full of life.”

Premier Paula Cox added her condolences yesterday, hailing Ms Corrent’s ‘immense contribution’ to Bermuda and her people.

She added: “Olympia Corrent was part of a politically rich family with a legacy that will live on for generations…

“She was considered one of the members of that special club of female political activists who sacrificed her time and energy to shape and change the course of our political landscape.”

Journalist Ira Philip, who was involved with the Bermuda Workers Association in its early days and worked alongside Dr. Gordon (also known as Mazumbo) and later wrote his biography, remembers watching Olympia grow up as political meetings unfolded in the Gordon living room.

“That’s where I had the opportunity to see Olympia and to discern that she was the apple of Edgar’s eye.

“She had much of his flair and charisma and grew up to be a fine young woman. Her passing is another chapter in the most extraordinary life of the descendents of Mazumbo.

“I have every reason to believe that she was a great role model for her sisters and an inspiration for them to become involved in politics.”

Olympia Corrent was the oldest daughter of Dr. Gordon and his long-time partner Mildred Lucille Layne. The couple had three daughters, Ms Corrent, Dame Pamela Gordon, Pat Gordon Pamplin and two sons – Edgar and Keith.