But scarcely had Boon Itt laid his hands to this great task when within a year his labours came to a sudden end. He fell a victim to cholera. After telling of the sudden attack of the disease, Dr. Eakin recounts the most impressive closing scenes:
“We were with him until late in Friday night, and left to return to the High School, telling them to call us if there should be any change. The weather had been hot and dry. No rain had fallen for about two months. All animate nature seemed to be suffering and longing for relief from the drought.
“About midnight we were called. As we went to the house, we noticed that there was a change coming in the weather. The wind was rising in fitful gusts, and dark clouds were scudding across the sky.
“We found that he had passed away without returning to consciousness. Soon after we entered the house, the monsoon broke in torrents of rain. The house shook under the fierce attacks of the raging tempest.... The bereaved wife calmly gathered the friends together in the little sitting room, passed around the hymn books among them and asked them all to sing. Through the long hours of that terrible storm, they sang those hymns of Christian faith and hope and comfort. In the interval between these songs of the night, they talked of the future. One expressed concern about the finishing of the new church. (A part of his ebbing strength Boon had spent in explaining the details of the drawings he had made for the roof of the church.) It would be difficult to find a contractor who would be willing to take up the work that had fallen from a dead hand, owing to a superstition that the building would be haunted. Then Kru Thien Pow, head teacher in the Boys’ High School and a most devoted friend of the fallen chief, broke down and wept aloud: ‘I am not thinking of the new church,’ he said, ‘some one will be found to complete that work. I am thinking of the Kingdom of Christ in Siam. Who will take the vacant place in this service?’”
The death of Boon Itt occurred May 8, 1903. Besides his widow, he left three children, Samuel Buntoon, Eliza Brante and Phreida.
AN APPRECIATION
The death of Boon Itt caused inexpressible sorrow and dismay among all who knew him, both in Siam and America. It brought forth universal testimonies of esteem for the man; friends seemed to vie with each other in veneration of his memory. Almost spontaneously there arose the suggestion to erect as a memorial to him a building that would provide facilities for the social work among young men which he had inaugurated. Committees both in Siam and in the United States met with cordial response to the proposal. The Crown Prince esteemed it a pleasure to make the first contribution for Siam towards the proposed building, while members of the government gladly participated in the fund. The king of Siam, who was absent at the time, expressed his intention to assist when he learned of the project after his return.
Prince Damrong, Minister of the Interior, when invited to contribute to the fund, replied: “I am glad to help in a memorial to that splendid man. You may not know that I offered him a position which would have led to high titles of nobility from the king of Siam, to the governorship of a large province and to a large increase of income. Yet he declined these high honours and financial benefits that he might continue in the service of Jesus Christ. Boon Itt was a true Christian.” As a result of the movement, the “Boon Itt Memorial Building” now stands as a visible testimonial to all Bangkok in behalf of the noble character of this Christian Siamese, and perpetuates the heart’s desire of this servant of Christ for the young men of Siam.
Boon Itt gave only ten rapid but full years to the Gospel ministry for his countrymen, but he set in motion spiritual influences that will persist many times that brief decade. The marvel is that he laid the foundations so deep in the hearts of the people and built so lofty in their aspirations in so short a time. Yet the higher achievement was not what he did but rather the Christian character which, by the grace of Jesus Christ, he developed in beautiful symmetry and completeness. In his life the Spirit manifestly bore its full fruition of “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” But the unique significance of his life lies neither in what he did nor what he was; rather it lies in the notable demonstration that the religion of Jesus Christ can take a man of any race or religion, completely transform his mind and heart, engraft in him the Christian culture, and yet leave him true to his own people. His life is a testimony that the Christian religion is a universal religion, for all races, for all lands and for all ages.