At the fledgling age of 25, Cochese Tyle Dennie is a proud descendant of the famous Belmont Rada who drilled their strong African roots down into the rich soil of the river banks of western Port of Spain after leaving the cane fields where they had had freed themselves as slaves some two hundred years ago.
This enterprising Trinity College graduate who opted to go directly into business after school, first attracted national attention when citizens of the capital city woke up in shock and awe to witness an embalmed customer standing at the back of a Dennies Funeral Home open-back hearse and transported through its winding streets.
Some time later, his people narrowly escaped personal injury when a Dennies hearse mysteriously exploded while taking a corpse to the church and, to top it all off, the company’s administration building and chapel was firebombed a couple days ago in circumstances still being investigated by police.
Over the week-end, Cochese – who was named after the American Indian warrior – was confronted by what would be one of the greatest challenges of his short life, when arsonists attempted to burn his business enterprise to the ground.
“We will survive this and we will rise like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes”, he confidently stated to one of his visitors.
A few weeks after his historic ride with the embalmed customer, a Dennies hearse exploded in flames while transporting a corpse to a church.
Fortunately, no one was hurt, including the corpse.
In another area of enterprise, Dennie has started using horses to facilitate the transition of his customers’ souls to a higher level.
Ever the innovator, Dennie is also breaking new ground by exploring the possibilities of Aquamation—sometimes called alkaline hydrolysis —“a gentle, environmentally friendly alternative to fire cremation”.
“It is a quiet, water-based process that reduces the remains to dust/ash, and is returned to the family”, the literature says.
Customers have been singing their praises for a long time now.
Three years ago, Ayoka J said:
Great service from the first day I meet you till the very last after the funeral was my first time having to arrange a funeral and you guys made it so heart warming for me and I want to tell you all that your services was 100% wonderful thanks again from my family will surely recommend you guys to anyone keep up the good works guys.
– Ayoka J
And, as Fayola G testified:
Tyler and his team are amazing…..there professionalism is outstanding…..they listen, so your love one gets, their last wish…..will recommend it to anyone.
So what could encourage predators to try and burn down a young business such as Dennies Funeral Home?
In pointing out that he’s sometimes selected for special undertakings of bodies in police custody, Tyler may have been inadvertently suggesting that some people do not want the bodies of such victims of crime reaching the coroner for a proper inquest.
Some outsiders have also speculated it can be a case of sheer envy at the meteoric rise of one so young in a traditionally slow-moving industry.
Events of today therefore, can easily be taken by this young business warrior as yet another set of challenges to be dealt with on the road of achievement – whether dealing with the living or the dead.
