MINISTER in the Office of the Prime Minister and Energy Minister Stuart Young testified that Lisa Morris-Julian, Minister in the Ministry of Education, had spurred on government ministers to perform at an even higher level than they otherwise would have done, especially when directly serving constituents.
Young, PNM chairman, paid tribute at a memorial service on December 19 at Balisier House, Port of Spain. Morris-Julian, D'Abadie/O'Meara MP, tragically died in a fire at her Arima home with two of her children on December 16.
Saying he had not stopped crying for her since her death, Young hailed her as the best the PNM and TT had to offer.
"Lisa would get you to do things you didn't want to do," he recalled. He fondly remembered Morris-Julian insisting he visit certain places as part of his duties.
Young recalled her personal support after a "little incident" involving him recently in Parliament, thought to be an allusion to the "hot mike" incident.
He said Morris-Julian was a selfless, pure, giving and genuine soul, who exemplified everything good. Young said she was very much a keyboard warrior who would rally the PNM troops behind the scenes.
He said since Morris-Julian's death, his phone had been inundated with calls from people at every level of the party including ministers, MPs and councillors all expressing the same fear. "Stuart, I don't know how I am going to deal without Lisa now."
People have told him, again and again, that when they were down, Lisa would lift them up. He related one person's words: "When I did not know how I would continue, Lisa would raise me up, sometimes with a buff."
Young paid tribute to Morris-Julian's family as her own support base and her mother Ann Morris for giving her daughter to TT.
[caption id="attachment_1127805" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Members of the audience listen to tributes to D'Abadie/O'Meara MP Lisa Morris-Julian at a memorial service in her honour hosted by the PNM's National Women's League at Balisier House, Port of Spain, on December 19. [/caption]
He urged her family members to continue what she had started by way of pubic service.
Young said all must carry on for Morris-Julian's sake and support her family.
Women's League chairman Camille Robinson-Regis was unavoidably out of the country but sent a heartfelt tribute read out by the league's Marilyn Lewis-Tobias.
Robinson-Regis hailed Morris-Julian as "a passionate warrior, true servant of the people and patriot" embodying the best of TT.
"Lisa made us better MPs just as she made the House of Representatives a better place and just as she made this country a better place for many."
She was also the lynch-pin of her own family, her colleague related.
Robinson-Regis said, "Lisa had no interest in conforming to some pre-packaged version of what an MP should be.
"Lisa was Lisa, no pretence, frank and up front, passionate and real." She was anchored in her deep principles, the minister related.
Robinson-Regis quoted author Ernest Hemingway to say Morris-Julian learned t
