Today Valletta will bid farewell to the man who for three years unfailingly waved goodbye to cruise line passengers sailing out of the Grand Harbour.

Charles Cremona died yesterday at the age of 72, and will be remembered as the “one who waves out cruise liners”.

“I feel as if I’m contributing to my home country in my own little way,” Mr Cremona had told Times of Malta in an interview in 2012.

When he started waving cruise passengers in and out of port we had to stop our outings. Instead of Birzebbugia I would end up going out on the roof with him

With the timetable of the liners’ calls in hand, for three years Mr Cremona would like clockwork appear on the roof of his apartment block overlooking the Lower Barrakka Gardens, waving the Maltese flag as the next ship left the harbour.

The practice started in 2010 when a close friend of Mr Cremona’s was about to go for a holiday aboard a cruise liner.

And since then the pensioner had religiously welcomed and bid farewell to cruise passengers until he was taken ill last year with lung cancer.

The illness meant Mr Cremona had to miss the feast of St Paul, of whom he was a devotee, and he also had to give the Good Friday procession a miss, for which he used to dress up as the notorious Biblical prisoner Barabbas.

Today, friends will gather in church and take a last look at a photo that appeared with the newspaper’s interview where he is seen waving the flag enthusiastically as the MSC Splendida goes by majestically.

Mr Cremona used to carry a newspaper cutting with this same photo wherever he went.

“When he started waving cruise passengers in and out of port we had to stop our outings. Instead of going to Birżebbugia I would end up going out on the roof with him,” his wife of 51 years, Consiglia, told this newspaper yesterday.

The couple grew up together as neighbours and were engaged 53 years ago. “Charles always used to make us smile. Instead of crying after his passing away, we were left laughing at the memories we built with him,” she said, sounding emotional.

Above all Mr Cremona will be remembered for his kindness and hard-working nature. He was very precise, especially when it came to housework.

His 42-year-old daughter Josianne, the youngest of four children, added that he would even rearrange figurines after her mum had dusted them. Despite his long hours at work, including weekends, he never complained and would drop anything he was doing to help out.

“Even when he was receiving chemotherapy treatment and I needed some help with the water tank he just fixed it while I worried that he might get injured,” Ms Gauci added.

The funeral service will take place at Valletta’s church of St Paul’s Shipwreck at 8am today.

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