FORMER ACCOMPONG MOROON LEADER, COLONEL SYDNEY PEDDIE DIES AT 81

ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica — Former Accompong Maroon colonel, Sydney Peddie is dead, community elders have confirmed.

Peddie left office in 2009 after serving two five-year terms as head of the historic Maroon community whose residents are descendants of freed and runaway slaves.

Peddie died on August 11 at his home in Accompong after a long illness. He was 81.

The funeral service will take place in Accompong on Saturday, August 30.

Current colonel of the Accompong Maroons, Ferron Williams hailed Peddie as the “type of person who looked out for the people of Accompong … I am certain he did what he could with whatever little resources were available to him”.