SIXTY-SEVEN-YEAR-OLD Frederick Smith, president of the Jamaica Bodybuilding and Fitness Association (JBBFA), died at the University Hospital on Thursday at 11:00 pm after a three-year battle with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood.
Son Kenrick said Smith was unresponive since Wednesday and was not reacting to touch and sound.
Smith served the sport for some 40 years, as a competitor in the 1970s and 1980s, building the Grecian ideal of the human physique, and as national coach and president.
He has been unofficial national coach since he stopped competing in 1987, and first became president from 1983 to 1985, and again for the past four years.
"Last week my father asked me if I was alright and not to worry," said 47-year-old Kenrick, the only son and one of two children for his father.
The inquiry, the younger Smith said, was an indication his father would not have been around much longer.
With a chemotherapy bill of some $100,000 a month, which neither he nor nor his family could afford, Smith said a few months ago the Sports Development Foundation (SDF) came to his rescue.
Smith was able to leave and returned to the University Hospital last week Wednesday.
He leaves wife Doreth, two years his senior, and daughter Sophia.
After three years of training, Smith started competing in bodybuilding in 1969 at the age of 27.
Courtesy of Jamaica Observer
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