You used to hear his voice every day on the radio until Brother Fem Cruz was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, making it harder for him to report on the events in the Belmopan area. Brother Fem as he was affectionately known, spent over two decades in the media, but his home was at Plus TV, up until yesterday when he fell in his home and was rushed to the Western Regional Hospital. He was put in an induced coma and transferred to the KHMH, where he passed away around 11:30 this morning.
Cruz was more than just a journalist though - he was a musician, a churchgoer, and a pillar of his community. Today we spoke with Plus TV journalist Ljay Wade about his time at the media house.
Ljay Wade, Journalist, Plus TV
"Every morning, everyday Brother Fem is here at Plus TV. If it's not his day to go on he would still sit in the control room in the master room and just watch the show. He would give advice, and he couldn't go on because he was sick, he suffered from Parkinson's Disease for a number of years now, which sort of limited his time on TV."
"Brother Fem took the diagnosis of Parkinson's very rough, it was not an easy thing to accept. He was a very active person, anyone who knew Brother Fem knows he was a talented musician, I think one of the best guitarist in the country of Belize, hands down. No formal training just watch persons play and he would play it. But the Parkinson's disease started limiting him in those areas of his life that he found joy. He couldn't play the guitar as much, he still tried to sing, and he couldn't be on TV as much because of the constant shaking he would have with Parkinson's."
"To see how the Parkinson's disease sort of took away that energetic person that we know was pretty rough to see."
Courtney Menzies:
"What do you think it was about Brother Fem that made him so beloved in that community?"
Ljay Wade, Journalist, Plus TV
"I think just how humble Brother Fem was really resonated with the people of Belmopan and Roaring Creek. I think as journalists like me and you, some journalists have an air of superiority, they feel they're very well educated, they know more about certain topics than the average person but Brother Fem was just able to break down the information in a way where everybody could understand, super humble, was never full of himself, he had this thing where every time he wanted to interview somebody, he would do a little bow to them before he spoke with them, call everybody mommy, daddy, brother, sister, just a super humble guy who quite frankly is a huge icon in the media, in church, in music, everything he did he left a mark in."
Cruz is the fourth media personnel to pass away this year, after Ruben Morales, Roy Davis, and Aaron Humes.
