‘Dingie never work fi heaven’ - Sister defends viral funeral comments

What was meant to be a solemn farewell for 67-year-old Noel 'Dingie' White has exploded into an islandwide drama after a clip from his September 14 funeral went viral online.

In the video, his sister, Patsy Stewart-Barnaby, shocked the congregation when she declares: "Mi love Dingie, but Dingie gone a hell headway."

The comment has ignited laughter on social media -- but also heavy criticism from family members and strangers alike. Yet Stewart-Barnaby stands by her words, insisting she was only speaking the truth as she sees it.

"I don't care zero what people want to say," she told THE STAR.

According to Stewart-Barnaby, her statement was not an attack on her late brother's character, but rather, a response to a minister, who, at the funeral, reportedly said Dingie "gone to heaven".

"I could not sit there and hear that. My brother wasn't baptised, wasn't filled with the Holy Ghost, and he never lived a Christian life," she said.

In Christian tradition, baptism is seen as a rebirth through water and faith, while being filled with the Holy Ghost describes receiving God's spirit as evidence of salvation.

Stewart-Barnaby insists that without these steps, no one should be declared heaven-bound.

"A so heaven easy fi go?" she asked rhetorically.

"The Bible say unless you baptise in His name, and live right, you cannot go a heaven. Mi brother never work fi heaven," she said.

Stewart-Barnaby said that her now-viral comments have caused unease, especially among members of Dingie's immediate family, some of whom believe her words were disrespectful. She, however, maintains she was not being judgemental.

"I didn't say my brother was a thief, rapist, or murderer. Dingie was my favourite brother, mi love him dearly. But mi can't pretty up nothing. If mi did say him go heaven, that would be hypocritical," Stewart-Barnaby said.

She admitted her bluntness may have hurt, and believes the issue escalated mainly because the clip went viral.

"Sometimes it's not what you say, it's how you say it. My brother was a nice man, him would have moved mountains for his family. But him wasn't a saint. He only ever go church to get married," she said.

Dingie, who lived in Pleasant Valley, some 20 minutes by car from Clarendon's capital, May Pen, died on May 23 after a brief illness.

Stewart-Barnaby, who resides in the neighbouring Woodside community, remembers her brother as a decent human being who she loved dearly.

She accepts that the utterance at his funeral has some caused discomfort, but says she did not intend to cause pain.

"Dingie was my favourite brother, and mi love him, but mi can't lie for nobody. Truth is truth," she said.

Continuing, Stewart-Barnaby said she will not retract the statement.

"People lack knowledge of what is hell and what is heaven. If me get the opportunity fi say it again, mi woulda say it again. Mi brother life was an open book. Him a good family man, but good works alone don't save you. That's just the truth," she said.