It is with a heavy heart that we prepare to lay Joash Etienne, better known as Uncle Joe, to rest.

He was a brother, a friend, but most importantly an uncle to many nieces and nephews, even those not related through blood.

Uncle Joe was diagnosed with stage 4 gallbladder cancer Tuesday 6th May 2025. He spent several weeks in and out of Northwick Park Hospital, when the cancer spread to his lungs as well as other parts of his body, but the lungs is where it did the most damage…

The doctors informed us that uncle Joe’s body isn’t strong enough to go under chemotherapy, and due to the aggressive nature of the cancer, he would only have a few months up to a year left to live.

This news was impossible for the family to process, especially after the tragic loss of uncle Joe’s youngest brother, Abner, just two month’s prior in Dominica.

A week later, on Friday 16th May, Joash was discharged from hospital and brought to his brother John’s home by his niece Luisa (John’s daughter), so he can be cared for by the family.

That weekend Joash’s breathing grew extremely heavy, and his lungs prevented him from doing almost all daily tasks, such as walking, eating, and even lying down. Although distressed and confused, Joash was never in any pain, and would still shoot his loving family his infectious smile and a joke here and there when he had the energy to.

On Sunday 18th May, after a nice evening with his brothers, cousins and nieces and nephew, Uncle Joe decided that he was ready to be reunited with God and the rest of the family in heaven, and took his last breath in his brother John’s arms.

Everything happened so rapidly, and although we are torn and broken as a family, we are happy that uncle Joe wasn’t in pain, and he was able to pass on with his family surrounding him.

The family has yet to even recover from Uncle Abner’s passing and funeral, so the loss of Uncle Joe feels excruciating.

With your help, we wish to hold a funeral service in London, where uncle Joe shall be cremated and we can then bring his ashes home to Dominica, where he will finally rest.

Thank you for all your support.

God Bless.