BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, Mar. 16, CMC – Former Governor Sir Probyn Inniss will be accorded a state funeral with full military honours on March 23.

In a release on Thursday, the government said the day will also be one of national mourning.

“The body of Sir Probyn will lie in state at Government House from 9:00am to 2:00 pm, the same day of the funeral. All flags on government buildings will be flown at half-mast and a half holiday will be proclaimed on March 23,” the release said.

The funeral service will be held at the Wesley Methodist Church in Basseterre at 2:30 pm (local time) with interment at the Springfield Cemetery.

In preparation for the funeral, a committee, headed by Cabinet Secretary Josephine Higgins has been established to oversee the arrangements.

Sir Probyn served as Governor from 1975 to 1981 and was knighted by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth in 1976.

A graduate of the University of the West Indies and the Inns of Court School of Law, he received the Super Lion Award at Chancellor Hall in 1976.

He authored numerous books including Methodism in St. Kitts in 2006, Historic Basseterre (1979), Whither Bound St. Kitts-Nevis (1983), Memorable Quotations (2002), and Forty Years of Struggle, The Birth of the Labour Movement (2005).

He died on March 12 at the age of 80.