(Cousin of the late PM)
A plethora of tributes and accolades have already been written and spoken on the wonderful achievements and the amazingly meteoric rise to National and Regional greatness of this outstanding Barbadian and Caribbean Statesman, Professor, The Right Honourable Owen Seymour Arthur. The family expresses sincere thanks to every single person who has already given tribute by voice or pen.
In accordance with directives he gave, well before his last illness, he wanted his funeral service to be held here in St Peter, his home parish and the parish he represented in Parliament for 34 years, and the Eulogy to focus primarily on the family life that laid the foundation for his development from being born the son of poor parentage to becoming one of the great Prime Ministers of Barbados and a champion of Caribbean Integration. He also requested that I, one of his many first cousins, should give the Eulogy/Reflection, though it is an honor to do so, I am indeed humbled by his request.
Owen Seymour Arthur was born on October 17, 1949, in Rose Hill in this great Parish of St Peter. He was the second child and first son of my uncle Frank Arthur, and Iretha Leota Roach, known affectionately as Doll. Their first child was Valmay and the filial bond between Valmay and Owen would be unbreakably enduring,( so much so that in his retirement he spent quality time with her).
Doll, Owen’s mother, was one of 5 daughters of Thomas Stanford, a well-known bookkeeper from Ashton Hall St. Peter. She was an agricultural worker and a devout Pentecostal Christian. Although Uncle Frank and Doll eventually had 7 children between them ( Valmay, Owen, Judy, Margaret, Arlette, Richard, and Jacqueline) Owen was undoubtedly his mother’s favourite. She taught him to cook, to be hard working, to be honest and caring, and to be the best that he could be. He attended church with her and even sang in the choir ( most likely base). He also attended All Saints Anglican Church with maternal grandmother Donzilla Roach. Uncle Frank had another daughter named Patricia also well loved by Owen ; she, Valmay and Richard are the only surviving siblings.
From Owen’s mother’s lineage the Stanfords, Roaches and Benns were all related. Haynesley Benn, a maternal cousin, would later muster the courage to contest the St Peter seat against Owen, but that never diminished the family unity or family love, all it did was to make Haynesley Benn better known for his audacity and daring spirit.
Owen’s father Frank Arthur was my mother’s half- brother, both having as their father Mr. Harold Bowen, a white Bajan Planter, better known as Harry Kite, who was actually more prolific at getting children from many concubines than he was at growing crops. Harry Kite produced two sons from Vie Arthur, one of his concubines, these were uncle Frank and uncle Aubrey, Frank died at age 86, uncle Aubrey is still alive in the UK, he is 90. Owen’s grandmother Vie Arthur, was very protective and caring of him, but was a no-nonsense disciplinarian.
Uncle Frank was an excellent carpenter and joiner but maintained his entrepreneurial independence refusing even to be employed by a famous businessman named Mr. Alleyne Ebworth. Indeed uncle Frank was a man of stubborn determination and was never afraid to tell you his mind on any matter. But beneath that austere exterior, Frank was fair and kind and whenever he gave Valmay any gift he commanded her to include all the siblings and share equally, his favourite phrase was equitable distribution and include every one. He later built and operated a butcher’s shop on to his house. Those paternal characteristics made an indelible impact on Owen’s young mind and would be especially manifested later in his politics of inclusion,and like uncle Frank, once Owen’s mind was made up on a matter, that was it.
Frank loved cricket and would take the young Owen and Valmay to Pie Corner to stay at Aunt Elsie while he played cricket on a nearby cricket field. In Pie Corner, Valmay and Owen became acquainted with the Harry Kite side of the family and got to know their other cousins, Aunt Elsie’s children: Mary, Maurice, June, Marita, Mervyn and Jeffrey Mahon, as well as uncle Allan Bowen’s children Shurla (who later married fast bowler Wes Hall), Sybil, David, Sandra. In fact most of the Harry Kite grand children loved spending time at the peaceful home of Aunt Elsie in Pie Corner. Owen and Valmay felt a sense of calm and heritage. Harry Kite had so many children and therefore grandchildren, that we are still getting to discover others even today.
With such strong personalities surrounding him, the little Owen developed character qualities of hard work, honesty, and a quiet but indomitable spirit to excel. He, like all of us, his many cousins, though born in poverty and what would be called the lower socioeconomic class, never focused on poverty or class but on educational and holistic progress, not merely for the sake of self but especially so as to be equipped to serve and help others and to contribute to nation building. Valmay recounts that at age 3 Owen was so determined to own livestock that he tied a rope onto a rock which he called his cow and would carry it out on the pasture to graze during the day and bring it home at night.
Owen started Primary School in 1955, walking to and from school every day. But who would have thought that the quiet little boy walking from his father’s humble dwelling in Rose Hill up the hill to All Saint’s Primary was a Prime Minister in the making ? Owen’s academic ability improved progressively each year at primary school and in 1960 he passed for and entered the Coleridge and Parry secondary school. He also walked to Coleridge and Parry every school day,and there he excelled. He loved history and Latin and was intrigued with the work of the great Roman historian and politician Publius Cornelius TACITUS. As a result he was nicknamed Tacitus by his classmates, but that was soon shortened to “Tac”. He actually informally tutored quite a few classmates and was highly respected for his quiet academic profundity.
On passing all his Oxford and Cambridge O level subjects, he transferred, in 1966, to Harrison College sixth form, in fact Modern Sixth, to do his Advanced level subjects, including English,and history. Youngest brother Richard remembers that the very same day Owen started Harrison College he walked him up to start his stint at All Saints Primary School. In 1966 to 1968,Harrison College was transitioning from the era of Colonial Headmasters to that of Barbadian Principals, a transition that was a motivation for us to strive even harder for excellence.
In sixth form Owen met one of his former Coleridge and Parry teachers, who was by then teaching at Harrison College, Lloyd Erskine Sandiford ( later to become Sir Lloyd). As he sat under Mr Lloyd Erskine Sandiford’s tutelage in 1966, neither one could have imagined that they were to make history 28 years later when the student would snatch the prime ministership from the teacher by a no- confidence vote.
As a teenager, Owen was also one of the village barbers, cutting the other boys’ hair under a bajan ackee ( guinep) tree that never bore an ackee, as Owen would say; that tree was certainly not a Harry Kite tree.
Growing up in the 1950’s and the 1960’s was for the young Owen Arthur both challenging and instructive. The political landscape was dominated by the great Sir Grantley Adams in the 1950’s. Owen, in the tender age range of 5 to 7 years old, would be taken to political meetings to hear Grantley Adams and Mencea Cox. Then in the 1960’s another great political giant dominated the political landscape, non other than His Excellency Errol Walton Barrow, and we grew up as beneficiaries of free secondary education, which was one of Barrow’s greatest achievements that impacted positively upon thousands of poor Barbadians. So young minds, like that of Owen Seymour, would have been influenced by those great leaders on either side of the political divide.
Another important reality in that era was the collapse of the political experiment of West Indies Federation contrasted with the success of the unity of a West Indies Cricket Federal team. Owen had a passion for cricket, He was a good batsman, not easily dismissed by the village bowlers. Later when His Excellency The Right Hon Errol Barrow was preparing the island for Independence from the colonial masters, three great victorious test series (1963, 1965), culminating in the 1966 three- one trouncing of England showed what Caribbean unity could do. ( In the fourth test match of that series we listened intently as Sir Garfield Sobers scored 174, and Seymour Nurse, 135)
With the history of the 1950’s and 60’s behind him and love for West Indian Unity and West Indian cricket in his heart, and with the aim to uplift his village, his parish and his country, Owen Arthur, entered the Cave Hill Campus of the UWI in 1968 to read for a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, history and Management. He excelled in his studies, gained his degree in 1971,won a postgraduate Scholarship and took off for the Mona Campus, in Jamaica, to read for his MSc in Economics. I met him when I returned to Jamaica from England and welcomed him to Mona with congratulations. Owen made many good friends at Mona, I remember two for sure: Robert Downes, now a OBG-GYN consultant in Trinidad and Tobago, and Douglas Corbin (Dougie) who later became Principal of Ellerslie School. They would passionately discuss cricket and Caribbean politics.
After completing his Masters in Economics he stayed on in Jamaica for 10 years. He was employed, first of all, in what was then known as the Jamaica National Planning Agency where he worked with two brilliant Jamaicans, Dr. Omar Davies and Dr. Norman Girvan. Owen later became an Economic Director of the Jamaica Bauxite Institute. He also worked closely with the PNP under the Honourable PJ Patterson.
In Jamaica he broadened his economic expertise and further developed his taste for politics, he also met and married his first wife, Beverley in 1978. Owen loved the beautiful island of Jamaica, in fact, Dr Omar Davies called him a Jamaican born in Barbados.
Owen was an avid reader particularly of history, economics, law, politics, geography, global trade, mathematics and even physics. He possessed a sharp analytical intellect and a quick memory for detail.
In 1981 Owen Arthur returned to Barbados and began working in the Ministry of Economics and Finance under the then Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Right Hon. Tom Adams who became very impressed with his skill as an economist,( especially after Owen did a critique of a paper that Tom wrote). Soon thereafter he was appointed to the Senate and by 1984 emerged winner in the repeat St Peter by election. The untimely death of Prime Minister Tom Adams in 1985 coupled with the financial proposals of Dr Richard Haynes (later to become Sir Richard), contributed to the BLP defeat in the 1986 general election but Owen was again victorious in St Peter.
Thereafter, however, a rapid sequence of events, reminiscent of the Biblical story of Mordecai in the Book of Esther, catapulted Owen into the Leadership of the Opposition. Then came the famous no- confidence motion. Owen Arthur had the utmost respect for Prime Minister Sandiford, as his former teacher and as PM, and I well remember the words that prefaced the no confidence motion: “ Mr Speaker, Sir, on this particular matter it is extremely difficult for me to speak but it is impossible for me to remain silent” then came the successful no-confidence motion. A General Election was called by Prime Minister Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford, the BLP won the election and Owen Seymour Arthur became Prime Minister of Barbados in September 1994. That was the beginning of 14 years of excellence in the economic and political history of Barbados under his tenure as Prime Minister. He practiced the politics of inclusion, was decisive under pressure, never forgot his St Peter village grass roots, was always down to earth, would sit down with the fellows and play dominoes while discussing any subject. He always sought to serve and uplift his constituency, his country and young economists and politicians. The election promise of 30,000 jobs became a reality and the chorus “we goin’ with Owen” reverberated across the country! He exhibited very creative management of the economy, was an astute politician and an unapologetic Caribbean integrationist.
He was just as devoted to his family. His first marriage having ended, he met and fell in love with a beautiful young lady, Julie, in the late 1990’s, they got married in 2005. ( he had the Harry Kite eye for beauty).I remember speaking on his behalf on that joyous occasion and never thought I would have to speak at his funeral service.
Julie Arthur enjoyed the privileges and challenges of being First Lady. She remembers Owen as the Chef. Julie said he never believed she, his wife, or anyone else could cook better than he could. His emphasis was always on taste. I remember once telling him that as important as taste was,cooking healthy was just as important, to which he replied, in his usual erudite style, “Elliot if I have give up my sweet food to eat like you just to add 5 years to my life, I prefer my sweet food”.
Julie also remembers Owen the gardener. On passing his house on mornings returning from my morning walk and shouting him out, he would show off his excellent work as a gardener and would tell me that that was his daily exercise. He grew almost every tropical herb and freely gave away his produce. Julie told me he secretly fought to keep one particular plant, which belonged to his mother, alive, for the sake of her memory.
Julie also remembers Owen, the husband, she said that not withstanding his ultra-demanding schedule he would remember her birthdays, anniversaries, and consult her on what to wear. Like uncle Frank, his father, there was a gentler side beneath the austere political exterior. She remembers his Love of family, country, and the region. And she especially wishes to express thanks to the QEH doctors and nurses who did the best they could in his final illness. We were glad to visit and pray for him in his final illness and the QEH staff was very cooperative.
Leah, his second daughter, like her mother Julie, remembers her father as a loving dad who adored her. She loved going on long drives picking fruit in the country side from over hanging branches of any tree private or public. At Queen’s College, being the Prime Minister’s daughter had its challenges. She didn’t want it to be even suggested that her Dad was helping her with her assignments. So when Owen asked: in typical Bajan parlance, “Leah let me see what yuh write nuh?”, she said no daddy. Once however she gave in and he read her Assignment and said Leah you are a bit too rough in your conclusion, ease off; to which she would reply: “But Dad I got that style of concluding arguments from you !” You sure bet, because I remember him as Prime Minister ending his victorious debates against the opposition using the phrase of his Anglican tradition and telling the then Leader of the Opposition: “And may your soul like the souls of the dearly departed rest in peace”.
Sabrina his eldest daughter was born in 1994. She exclaimed that the only thing her Dad loved more than serving his country was his family, he loved her and Leah with utter devotion. And when grand daughter, Isabelle, came along Owen was ecstatic! Sabrina remembers his great cooking and gardening, loving support, and doting love his granddaughter
The Right Honourable Owen Seymour Arthur was, up to the present, the longest serving Prime Minister in our history. He had 34 unbroken years as Member of Parliament for St. Peter. Owen was a close friend of many politicians both in his Party and in the Opposition. Sir David Simmons was a close political ally during Owen Arthur’s 14 year tenure as Prime Minister, and Glyne Murray became a life long friend.
Owen Arthur was especially impactful on the political and career development of many younger and older politicians and economists; time allows me to name just two, The Present Prime Minister the Honourable Mia Amor Mottley and Dame Billie Miller. On behalf of the family, this Eulogy/Reflection extends sincere thanks to Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley for her gracious empathy, kind support and overall magnanimity to the family and to Owen in his final illness. Thank you Hon. Prime Minister.
From humble beginnings in Rose Hill, St Peter, Owen Seymour Arthur rose by dint of hard work and God’s providence to make outstandingly excellent contributions as one of Barbados’s great Prime Ministers, a colossus and titan for regional integration and the Caribbean Single Market and Economy and a champion for the development of Small Island Developing States. He was a strong supporter of our UWI, a strong advocate for government-paid free tertiary education for the development of poor working class people. He was also a strong advocate for health policies, one example in point, was his establishment of the National HIV/AIDS Commission in the Prime Minister’s Office and securing a World Bank loan for the fight against HIV, inducing other regional Leaders to follow his example.
Even in his retirement he continued to serve as economic adviser to the government, as UWI Professor of Economic Practice, and regional consultant in varied disciplines, while still being committed to family.
We are very thankful for his years of yeoman service to his Parish, St Peter, his country, the Caribbean, the Commonwealth and to his family. His legacy will continue to inspire other leaders to serve selflessly and with pride and industry.
FAREWELL PROFESSOR THE RIGHT HONOURABLE OWEN SEYMOUR ARTHUR:
SON, BROTHER, COUSIN, HUSBAND, FATHER, GRANDFATHER, ECONOMIST, POLITICIAN,
GREAT PRIME MINISTER, CARIBBEAN INTEGRATION CHAMPION;
REST IN PEACE .