Fifty-nine-year-old Mavis Henry better known as ‘Mayo’ was a woman literally in love with her job which saw her working more with the dead than the living.
Mavis Henry
Henry did not have a job that was normally associated with a woman but as the chief mortuary technician at the Lyken Funeral Home for the last 15 years she has dressed more dead persons than anyone could count including former President Janet Jagan earlier this year.
So it was a shock to the funeral home, at which she worked for more than 23 years, when she died last Friday morning from what is believed to be a liver ailment.
Dawn Stewart-Lyken, wife of the funeral home’s owner Gordon Lyken, said Henry was at work last Thursday when she appeared to be ill and she took her to the hospital. She died the following day.
Yesterday when Stabroek News visited the funeral home on Norton Street numerous black flags were being flown and there was a sombre mood among staff members.
“She was loyal; she was protective of other staff members. She was the mother, sister, she was everything to them Stewart-Lyken said yesterday.
She described the woman as the “master dresser of the dead.”
“She dressed Mrs Janet Jagan, and she reconstructed so many faces… just like the family wanted,” the woman told Stabroek News as she wept. She said Henry was the one who had reattached businessman Farouk Kalamadeen’s head to his body in any attempt to help his family with a proper burial. Stewart-Lyken said Henry was the one that pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh requested when he was going to certain crime scenes. She was the only woman among the men who travelled to Lindo Creek to remove the remains of the eight miners. She also travelled to Bartica and Lusignan to assist in the removal of bodies of persons who were slaughtered in the massacres.
“She reconstructed the faces of many of the persons who died at Bartica just so the family could have a proper viewing of the body,” she said.
According to Stewart-Lyken, Henry was trained on the job by certified morticians whom they brought from overseas and she later became certified.
“She was just good at her job; you know how many burn victims she worked with… She just wanted to help the families so that they could have a proper viewing of their loved ones’ bodies. She worked tirelessly and it was always important to her what the customers think. She was never satisfied until they were happy with her work.”
She said Henry always made sure everything was in order she controlled the fridge and always ensured that it was at the right temperature to preserve the bodies stored.
“She was a real good person, she was just a good person and she was very honest. We could count on her at anytime; she personally cared about what she did.”
Stewart-Lyken said Henry would be greatly missed at the funeral home not just because she was an excellent worker but also because she was a good person and the other employees looked up to her.
Henry was married to Compton Henry. She did not have children.
Liver ailment? could that be from smelling those dead all the time??…..anyone????
Lung is associated with smell, dear Sandhurst, not the liver. Valiant try though.
How ironic. Now she’ll be be prepared by her successor. I wonder if working with embalming fluids without protective gear contributed to her early demise. Rest In Peace.
An autopsy should be done, SandHurst may have something here, who know what other precautions can be taken? Such ailments as indicated would have had visible symptoms long before. Regular physicals are essential.
Rest in peace Mavis.
The liver is use the purify your body my removing toxic substance for the body. If you are inhaling an toxic substances it affects the lungs. An autopsy in needed for the cause of death.
bismattie but the liver does the processing and if that
goes it’s good nite irene..
SandHurst..maybe to cope with all those horrific dead [the ones that met a real terrible demise] bodies she drank allot to cope,that could affect the liver.condolences to her family,R.I.P Mavis.
People who handle the dead are normaly heavy consumers of alcohol.
So repeat that Sandman “lung is to smell as liver is to drink”. Write that pon de black board 500 times, then go sit in a corner with your dunce cap on for the rest of the day.
The embalming fluid could be toxic. If she did not use proper protective gear gloves/masks etc., that stuff could prove fatal. It would be interesting to see what the autopsy reveals.
“SKY”??????????!!!!!!!!…..You trying to embarrass me??
I wrote this comment to engage the bloggers in a healthy topic and here you are trying to embarrass ME????…..”SKY”???!!!!
It’s me and you from now on…I am gonna be on your case like Perry Mason!!
Uh oh, no more blogs from me!!!
Joke bro, joke.
She got sick one day and died the following day???
AUNTY MAVIS, LEFT AGOOD NAME, AT LEAST SHE WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR HER GOOD WORKS
You have made many souls look presentable to meet their maker and now may he greet you with open arms dear woman.
MY DEEPEST SYMPATHY TO THE FAMILES AN TO ALL HER CO WORKERS MAY HER SOUL REST IN PEACE .
May this redoubtable woman rest in peace.
YOU NEVER HEAR ABOUT SOME PEOPLE UNTIL THEY ARE DEAD ONLY THEN YOU HEAR HOW GOOD AND HARD WORKING AND ALL THE NICE THINGS ABOUT THEM..WHEN THEY ARE ALIVE NO ONE PAYS ANY ATTENTION OR RECOGNISED THEM FOR THERE PERFORMANCE AND CONTRIBUTIONS…WHY SHOWER ALL THE PRAISE WHEN THEY ARE NO MORE HERE DO IT WHEN THEY ARE ALIVE…SO THAT THEY CAN FEEL RECONISED AND MOTIVATE THEM EVEN GIVE THEM TOKEN ,,INCENTIVE.. ETC.SO WHEN THEY ARE GONE TO THE MAKER THERE FAMILY CAN LOOK AT THERE ACHIEVEMENTS AND TALK OR PROVE IT TO OTHERS… MAY HER SOUL FIND ETERNAL REST
My Most Sincere and Deepest Sympathy to all of Mrs. Henry’s Family and Friends, and to all at Lyken Funeral Home. God Bless!
dedicated dedicated those words are strange coming from guyana
i wish the politicians would be so dedicated to their jobs,this
woman should be honour by all guyanese, may her soul rest in
peace, i hope they fix her up good the way she would have wanted
….
She did her art with love and care.
God bless her soul.
My sincerest and heartfelt condolances to the bereved family.
May her sould rest in peace.