ROMAN Catholic priest Fr. Clyde Harvey has urged local entertainers to take care of themselves.

This as he too joined with hundreds of extempo fans, paranderos and the Best Village community along with those in the wider Caribbean to mourn the loss of talented son of the soil Leroy “Big B” Birch.

The 56-year-old diabetic succumbed to a heart attack last Friday morning at the San Fernando General Hospital.

Fr. Harvey, who took time out from his sabbatical leave to deliver the homily at the late afternoon funeral of his friend Big B, revealed to the hundreds gathered at the St. Paul’s Anglican Church, San Fernando that the well-known entertainer had admitted that he had not been taking his medication.

Saying, too, that ace pan arranger Clive Bradley had also passed on, he noted too that every Christmas season “that somebody in the culture must die”.

Bradley, who took WITCO Desperadoes to six Panorama titles, suffered a stroke and died last Saturday.

Fr. Harvey said that when entertainers do not take care of themselves they in fact deprive their many fans of the good they have to offer.

Some relatives weep over BIG B.

Grieving wife PAT BIRCH (left) drying her eyes.

The La Divina Pastora Parang Group.

“… Especially we men, we don’t like to take care of ourselves, we don’t like doctors we find they too farse.

“Take care of yourselves,” he begged, “and we, too, must encourage our cultural icons to take care of themselves.”

He said it was the artiste who helped us to appreciate what we have.

He recalled Big B “in just a few seconds having surveyed a scene would help you to laugh at people in such a way that they don’t become angry …”

Fr. Harvey was among many close friends of the popular artiste who paid tribute to him.

Others were members of the La Divina Pastora Parang Group, of which he was a founder, and several extempo artistes, including calypsonians Gypsy, Lingo, Allrounder, Sheldon John and the Southernaires Choir ... among other groups.

Folks from all walks of life attended the funeral service.