7 News Belize

Our colleague Keith Swift who died unexpectedly of a brain hemorrhage at his home on Monday morning was buried today at St. Ann's Anglican Church in his home city of Belmopan. It was a most difficult day for the close-knit 7news team and the family, friends and fans of Keith. The 30-year-old had carved out his own singular niche since he started working here at 7news in 1998. He will be sadly missed in our newsroom and on television sets across the country where Keith Swift was a household name and a legitimate media personality. And while funerals are never happy affairs â€“ and this one was no different -- today Swift had a send off worthy of someone who'd touched so many lives. Here are a few clips of his funeral service and burial:

Indira Craig, Anchor, Channel 7,
"With his friends, Keith was always laughing and loved a good, harmless tease; he was such a funny guy, with a completely off, random sense of humour. And, don't ask how much he loved a good shush.".

"Keith would greet almost everyone with his disarming style, big-timing them. Whenever he met anyone familiar, he almost announced them, making the person's name sound like a brand name, I can hear him now: "Craig...!"

"To speak of Keith personally is not so easy; it cannot be done summarily. Those who love and lived with him may never be able to reconcile the basic paradox of Keith--that the man who surpassed all in front of the camera shared so little about himself when the microphone was turned off. Imagine, a purveyor of stories and yet a guarder of his own."

"When he did open up we saw his sensitivity, his vulnerability and that he sought solace in our support.... these are, after all, the normal human frailties - just that when you're living most of your life on TV, the cuts can be a little close to the bone."

"But, he rose above it every time, and used it as fuel to make him that much more determined to succeed and exceed; Keith worked like he had something to prove, in the end he was so relentless, he never gave us a choice, we all had to love him; Keith delivered: he was the most prolific, the most worthy and the most humble with a microphone and a camera."

"Not much more needs to be said for Keith Swift, Channel 7 Star Reporter, that he did not say for himself--every night, in our living rooms or online, from the flood ravaged south to the frontlines of civil unrest, from back a town, to Houston. The awards will forever tell the story of Keith's love for journalism, his passion for unearthing and telling the story that hasn't been told."

"Indeed, each of us is here today because each has at least one memory of Keith--one personal story not televised or broadcast nationwide - maybe a moment before an interview when he tilted his head in that slightly side-wards way - to say, "It's all-right; I feel you" - without having to say a word. And, after all, that's what it is, the human connection he made with those he interviewed and those who watched."

"He did what he did. Exceptionally. And that's all many of us will ever know about him. It's easy to canonize those we love in death, but we must remember, their humanity is what we shared and what in essence, we loved. And that's what we found in Keith, his lack of pretense, his human-ness."

Alfonso Noble, Editor, The Guardian,
"We used to go into the field and Jules would tell myself and Keith, â€˜Boys, go out there and bring home the bacon. With Keith, he didn't only bring home the bacon. He brought the pig. We would often go into the field, every and anywhere. We went in riots. We went in sewer-infested water behind Jane Usher Blvd and, oftentimes I would tell Keith -- I was a cameraman at the time â€“ and oftentimes, I would tell Keith, â€˜Man, Keith, you have to do this.' And it was so simple to guide him, because we were all naÃ¯ve at the time, and we could have Keith do just about anything. We used to tell Keith, â€˜Keith, roll up you pants and walk eena di watah deh, man. Ih weh gat wahn nice effect and dat da weh people wahn see. People wahn see you di walk eena dah watah.' And Keith woulda roll it up, do it 15, 20, 30 times. You asked him to do it and he would do it."

Marion Ali, Reporter, Channel 5,
"I will certainly miss Keith. I got on his nerves. He got on mine. It was just the nature of the competition. But it was never anything personal. I will certainly miss his face out there. Cuz there will not be a Keith pushing me again to do my best."

Kanie Manuel, Reporter, San Pedro Sun,
"It's just (sighs)â€¦ I cannot (sighs)â€¦ he was a great friend. Professionally, nobody can compare and, honestly, more than a media companion. I feel that I have lost a friend."

Mose Hyde, KREMANDALA,
"Keith worked with us for about a month. We never had a conversation. Keith and I met I would say a thousand times, various functions, we never had a conversation. When I say we never had a conversation, I mean we never said, â€˜What's up?' It was kind of strange. At times I thought about it. I have a couple theories. Either Indira tell ah sumting bout me or Jules. I think many other people have said he was very underrated. And maybe I was affected by the fact that he didn't have any conversation with me. I kind of underrated him myself. All that changed when we came together to do the election coverage. Every single time that young brother went out he came back in with something with meat on it. Every single time. He wasn't loud. He wasn't [a] chest-beater. He didn't come back with it in his hand looking like, "Ha-ha, look what I brought." But every time he came in, he brought it."

The burial finished at just a few minutes past noon. And while those are a few clips of the event, on Sunday on Channel 7, we'll show you a more extended version of the funeral service.