Belize Mourns the Loss of Icon Jenny Lovell

Belizean icon, Jenny Lovell has passed.  Reports of her death reached our newsroom shortly after eight o’clock this morning.  Further investigations indicate that Lovell was not feeling well over the last few days and up to news time, it is suspected that she suffered a heart attack.  We further found that at the time of her passing she was at a friend’s house in the Maya Mopan area in Belmopan.  During today’s house meeting, Prime Minister John Briceno remarked on Lovell’s passing as well as Ministers Kareem Musa and Dolores Balderamos Garcia.

Hon. John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize: “That voice you know that remember Mass in Blues when she was I guess one of the most probably best Album Belize has ever produced with Frankie Reneau all of them were just little kids when they put out Mass in Blues and I wish that more and ore Belizeans would be aware of that music. She was a national treasure. She loved singing and she loved Belize and for this we are a grateful nation and we thank her family for sharing Jenny with us.”

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs: “I also want to extent my heartfelt condolences to the family of Miss Jenny Lovell, a true icon and legend in Belize and she will surely be missed by all of us.”

Dolores Balderamos Garcia, Minister of Human Development: “Jenny was our first director of the community rehabilitation department back in 1999 and she served with distinction in that role and she also was currently our senior trainer for our community and parent empowerment ComPar program under the Department of Human Servic-es. Madam Speaker she will be greatly, greatly missed and I add my voice of condolence to all her family and friends.” 

Lovell’s work and popularity transcended music.  Her work as a child advocate and psychotherapist showcased her unwavering commitment to helping others. Lovell’s empathetic approach and professional expertise provided support and hope to many children and families as attested by Esner Vellos of the National Drug Abuse Control Council.

Esner Vellos, Director, NDAC: “Jenny, in one way or the other, started to collaborate and work with us in a way of providing advice and also kind of helping us to steer the National Drug Abuse Control Council in a moment back in 2009 when we most needed it, when we were in a position of restructuring. Jenny was very instrumental in the development of the national substance misuse policy as well as she was a member of the drug treatment court that looked at establishing a court that would be able to provide in one way or the other support to those individuals who committed misdemeanors under the influence. And instead of sending them to the prison, they would be sent to rehabilitation and treatment. And that in itself was trailblazing at that time. The work and the contribution that Jenny Lovell did for the National Drug Abuse Act Control Council has been seen, is being heard, but more important, it’s been taken by us at NDAC as an example of how we should live our lives and how empathic we should be in terms of those who suffer mental health issues.”