Source: Trinidad Express
FORMER TRINIDAD and Tobago Olympic Committee assistant secretary general Wendell Labastide died yesterday.
Labastide also served in various positions in the Badminton Association of Trinidad and Tobago (BATT), including as its president.
As a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee from 1997 to 2013, he served in the assistant secretary general role and during that period and beyond was appointed to be chef de mission and assistant chef de mission at several TTOC-sanctioned Games.
TTOC immediate past president Brian Lewis said: “It is very sad news, Wendell was a true servant to the Olympic sport movement and the Commonwealth Sport movement in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean. He was very involved in badminton... always had the best interests of badminton at heart.”
Lewis, who entered the TTOC executive the same year as Lewis, said Labastide was committed to the development of sport and youth and young people and said he was instrumental in working in conjunction with Lewis to establish and set up the Olympic Youth Camp,
“Wendell was the total and ultimate team player and whenever you called on him, he was always willing to serve and never asked for anything in return. He exemplified the spirit of volunteerism; the spirit of putting country before self; the spirit of putting others before self. He was a very genuine and compassionate man, in many ways a gentle giant. It really is a sad loss, the sudden and untimely passing. It has come as a tremendous shock to the TTOC and me personally who even though he was no longer on the TTOC, we had remained in close contact.”
Lewis sent his sincerest and heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.