One of the participants in the Anguilla Revolution, Edmund Sasso, died last month following a period of prolonged illness. He was 94 years old. The Anguillian met with Mr. Sasso’s wife, Mrs. Claris Sasso, and other members of his family who recalled some highlights of the revolutionary’s life.

The late Mr. Edmund Sasso

The late Mr. Edmund Sasso, also known as Goldwin, was born on February 28, 1915 and grew-up, in the Farrington. He attended to the Boys’ (Elementary) School until he was 13 years old. Mrs. Sasso remembered her husband saying that he left school against the wishes of his parents and went to Santo Domingo “to work to get a pair of shoes” because his peers were wearing shoes. She said the shoes were ‘soft walkers’ because, in those days, there were little money was earned in Santo Domingo. In the meantime, his teachers fretted over his leaving school because “he was very bright.”

Mrs. Sasso disclosed that her husband visited Anguilla “several times” when he lived and worked abroad. He also lived and worked in St. Maarten and in St. Thomas until 1945 when he resettled in Anguilla.

Mr. Sasso opened a store in the Farrington and then in Sandy Hill close to where he lived. His wife disclosed that she met her late husband in the Farrington when she visited his shop with her aunt. They were married in 1947 and had seven children.

The late Edmund Sasso worked at Public Works in the Valley, for the former “Central Government,” when Anguilla was part of St. Kitts/Nevis until the Revolution of 1967. During the Revolution he transported persons throughout the island and at night entertained a number of persons who kept watch at the nearby Fort where many suspected St. Kitts forces may have invaded. Mrs. Sasso described those times as “many sleepless nights” when her teenage daughter, Vida, would boil coffee for the group.

Mr. Sasso was reportedly one of the men who drove trucks onto the airport when invading planes from St. Kitts made an unsuccessful attempt to land.

Mrs. Sasso went on: “Once he was taking folks to Island Harbour and they (other revolutionaries) thought that they were other folks and he was nearly shot. He used to put a flag in his truck so people would know it was him (enemies)…They were really fighting for a worthy cause because anybody can look at the fruits of it and the progress of the island today.”

Daughter Vida Ireland recalled the community spirit of her father by referring to Hurricane Donna: “I can remember my mother and eldest brother in the shop trying to hold the door from the wind blowing it open and he (her father) had to leave because there were people who needed sheltering. He had to leave us and go to take those people to East End School. That always stuck with me. He worked really hard.”

Daughter Myrna Sasso remembers that whatever he had he would give away. “He was very free-handed and he figured he could always do without,” she said. “He credited so many people even though he had a sign up in the shop saying, ‘Buy Today and Trust Tomorrow.’ Most of those people have died and gone on with those bills still in their back pockets.” She said she had very fond memories of her father and, because she was with him during his last weeks, she knew that he died contented and “anxious to go home.” She said he died “Very, very peacefully without a word.”

Mr. and Mrs Edmund Sasso were married for 61 years. They would have celebrated their 62nd Wedding Anniversary on September 16. Mr. Sasso died on August 16, one month before that Anniversary.

The service of thanksgiving for the life of the Late Edmund “Goldwin” Sasso was held at 3:00 pm on Saturday August 29 at St. Augustine’s Anglican Church in East End.

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