OBITUARY

Archie Pilgrim

We want to tell you about the most fantastic human being that we think ever walked this earth.  He was born on November 4, 1927 in Brooklyn, New York to Mary Winifred Pilgrim (nee Moore) and Archibald Pilgrim, both from Barbados, West Indies.  His parents named him Archibald St. Clair Pilgrim but we also knew him as Archie, Sinny, Uncle Sinny, Sin, Saint, PopPop, Pops, Papa, Daddy and Dad.  We'll call him Sinny today.

Sinny graduated from Boys High School in Brooklyn, New York and held various interesting jobs while in school and after he graduated.  At the age of 17, he was employed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard as an apprentice electrician.  He also worked delivering milk.  In that position, he would get up in the wee hours of the morning and go to New Jersey to pick up milk to be delivered to customer's doorsteps in New York.  Many, many years before Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn was known by that name, Sinny worked there as an orderly.

Sinny was a World War II Era Veteran.  He was a Private First Class in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Germany during his tour of duty.  He was also an amateur boxer while serving in the Army. After being honorably discharged from the Service, Sinny worked for the New York City Transit Authority as bus driver.  During that time, he married Alice Clarke and out of that union, their daughter Valerie was born.   Years later, after the dissolution of that relationship, Sinny met and married Irma Atherton of Trinidad, W.I.  Sinny and Irma had two beautiful daughters, Chanda and Sunanda.

While working for the Transit Authority and raising a family, Sinny attended and graduated from Queens College, in Flushing N.Y.  He and his eldest daughter had a race to see who would get their degree first.  Sinny won and was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology a few months before his daughter received hers in the same subject.

After being promoted from bus driver to dispatcher and over 35 years of faithful service, Sinny retired from the NYC transit authority.  He always said that when he retired, he just wanted to spend his time reading his massive collection of books.  Because of his love of books, he even considered becoming a librarian. After only a few months of retirement and book reading, Sinny became bored and left retirement to teach bus driving.  When he left that position, he and a fellow instructor started a charter bus company called United Motor Coach.   After a few years with United Motor Coach, he retired again.  This time for good.

Sinny was always an activist and wasn't afraid to stand up for what he believed in.  As a soldier in the Army, while stationed at Ft. Benning, GA, he was arrested for refusing to sit at the back of the bus.  He attended the 1963 March on Washington.  On Thanksgiving, he used to tell us about the true history of that day, as our food got cold while we waited for him to finish. He was an adventurer .  There is a photo of him in a harness hanging off the side of a Navy ship. Why? Just for the fun of it.  He used to do somersaults into his bed at night.  In his mid80's Sinny took up the martial art form of Traditional Moo Doe which is 8 martial arts taught as one. He did very unusual but very wonderful things . As a New York City bus driver, when he was in a singing mood, he would lead his entire bus load of passengers in song.  Just imagine stepping up into a bus in Brooklyn, N.Y. and being greeted by a bus full of singing strangers and a harmonizing driver.  Sinny had a great voice and he loved to sing harmony! He loved a challenge .  His goal was to ride a motorcycle after one of his daughters and his son-in-law bought motorcycles and again, many years later, when his grandson started to ride. Sinny was in his 90's at the time. While he was in the hospital just last week, he was shown a video of his grandchildren in a raft being pulled by a boat.  He said that when he got better, he wanted to try that because it looked like fun. He had a laid back  coolness. He wore his white hair in a long braid that extended halfway down his back.   It was beautiful. He loved mayonnaise . He loved it enough for us to highlight it here.  Sinny put mayo on EVERYTHING – his rice, his chicken, his vegetables, his spaghetti.  He loved it so much that one birthday he was given a supersized jar of it.  He was thrilled! (We wouldn't be surprised if he even snuck some on his dessert.)

Sinny's heart was a big as the world and as warm as the sun.  He profoundly touched so many lives.  He radiated love and joy and kindness. People were drawn to him like a magnet. They loved him and he loved them right back.  He smiled all the time and when he was not smiling, he was laughing.  His laugh was infectious.  The only exception was when he was hungry.  Well, when he was hungry, it was best to stay out of his way until he ate (usually something with mayo on it).  We knew when it was safe to approach him again after he ate because he would start to hum and sway gently back and forth in his seat with his eyes closed. Sinny was pure compassion. He listened to people when they talked. He cared about them and what they were saying and feeling. He was sensitive and comfortable with who he was .  He wasn't afraid to cry when he heard beautiful music or a moving story or saw a touching television commercial. Sinny, loved, loved, loved his family and we were both honored and blessed to be part of his life and he, ours.  Sinny was an absolutely wonderful human being.  We don't think that there was anyone else quite like him.

Sinny was preceded in death by his sisters Ianthe (Glen) Ballantyne and Althea Sealy and his brothers Leslie (Les)Gordon Pilgrim and John (Johnny) David Pilgrim.  Sinny's journey on this earth ended peacefully in his sleep at 3:04 a.m. on August 26, 2020 in Oviedo, Florida.  He leaves to celebrate his beautiful life his beloved wife of 52 years Irma, his daughters Valerie Pilgrim Bell-Bey, Chanda Pilgrim and Sunanda Pilgrim-Reid, his sons-in-law Joseph Bell-Bey, Chris Owens and Shawn Reid, his grand-children Justin, Jared, Enen, Amenkai and Juliette, his sisters-in-law Claudina Pilgrim, Cynthia Atherton and Marlene Daly, cousins Diana, David, Debbie and Lois Pilgrim, his nieces and nephews Terrance, Earle, Erwin, Selwyn, Errol, Evelyn, Andrew, Kimya, David, Tina, Zanetta, Sean Ballantyne, Khadijah, Diony, Niguel, Khalil, Shalei, Cha-Ka, Kamauu, Zaneta, Sean Atherton, Damion, Duane, Michelle, Xavier, Grace and a long list of other family members and friends.

His life may have ended on August 26 ^th but that's also when his legacy began.  He lives on in the moments of our daily lives and if you pay careful attention, you might see Sinny's smile when the sun is shining on the clouds, or hear his laughter when the breeze blows or hear him humming when you spread some mayonnaise.  Maybe the next time you see one of your city's buses, if you slow down and listen, you might even hear singing and some beautiful harmony.  Sinny made the world a better place.  We can all follow in his footsteps and do the same. So when you think about him and all his joy and goodness, smile a little, laugh a little, spread that Sinny love around and pass it on!