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Linda Kelshall, the long‑serving president, director and curator of the Chaguaramas Military History and Aerospace Museum, died Friday evening. Her death was announced by her daughter, Tricia Lee Kelshall Bynoe, though the exact age and circumstances have not been released publicly.
Kelshall was the widow of the museum’s founder, Lt Commander Gaylord Kelshall, a noted military historian. For decades she steered the institution, safeguarding Trinidad and Tobago’s military heritage and keeping the founder’s vision alive. The museum’s collection documents centuries of local service and overseas participation.
Beyond administration, Kelshall was the museum’s most visible face. In 2018 she guided President Paula‑Mae Weekes through the exhibits and handed her a volume of books written by her late husband. She also sculpted a bust of Gaylord on the first anniversary of his death, creating the statue from memory without a mold or photograph.
Kelshall’s commitment extended into legal battles. In February and March 2025 she led opposition to the Chaguaramas Development Authority’s attempt to reclaim the museum’s property. After the gates were locked, she publicly defended the institution, and a High Court injunction later allowed the museum to return to its site.
Today the museum, which displays uniforms, weapons, a World War I trench replica and a former BWIA aircraft, mourns the loss of its fiercest defender. Details of Kelshall’s funeral remain pending, but her legacy as a guardian of national memory endures.
