In Loving Memory of Charter Member John Jones
Past President John Jones or ‘PP Johnny’ as we affectionately referred to him, was a Charter member of our Rotary Club, the Rotary Club of Barbados South. It was during 1985 that Johnny and a few others were targeted as Leaders in their vocation to be members of a new Rotary Club that The Rotary Clubs of Barbados and Barbados West were about to Charter. Our Club was chartered on the 13 January 1986, and he was inducted as a founding member.
His calm demeanour was the hallmark of his Rotary life. He was among a few core members who guided the Club in the early years. He served as President from July 1st, 1991, to 30th June 1992 and also served as an Assistant District Governor from July 1st, 2000, to June 30th, 2001, during Past District Governor, the late Ethelbert Thompson’s term in office. As a Past President, he served as Vice President to several of our club’s Presidents providing them with guidance and support during their Presidency.
He was the consummate Rotarian. He loved Rotary and embodied our motto - Service Above Self and subscribed to the tenants of the 4 Way Test and the Objects of Rotary. These were reflected in his life as a Rotarian and in his personal and business endeavors. He, and his beloved wife Laura who predeceased him, were a tag team in support of its ideals.
In his earlier Rotary years, he travelled to District Conferences and subsequently he and Laura travelled often to Rotary International Conventions. This was how he equipped himself with knowledge about Rotary and the management of Rotary clubs. This meant that he could guide and advise our club’s Board and its members on Rotary governance, policy and programmes. PP Johnny was an Officer and a Gentleman if ever there was one.
As a professional, he always provided sound advice and support whenever called upon. As, a person, John Jones was quiet, affable, dignified and determined. He was the voice of reason and our conscience. He gave advice and support when asked and was a great Rotary mentor to myself and many Rotarians in our club and the other Rotary clubs in Barbados. In whatever sphere of life, PP Johnny gave his best and everyone who knew him, knew they were getting his best.
PP Johnny’s contribution to our club was beyond measure. He led often in its fundraising efforts, getting tickets printed, selling tickets and leading in the fundraising & sponsorship of many of our programs. He allowed the club the use of the Guardian General Sports Club for our annual Christmas Hamper Project and also the use of Guardian’s Board Room to host many of our Board meetings and was always gracious to provide us with refreshments at those meetings. Always the perfect host. In addition, he facilitated the use of Guardian General offices as a meeting point for Rotaract Club of South Barbados. PP Johnny prided himself on being a ‘100% ter’ and maintained an exemplary attendance record.
Past District Governor David Edwards recounts a friendship which goes way back long before PP Johnny’s Rotary membership. Their friendship was strengthened by the countless conversations surrounding Service, the many trips to District Conferences and International Conventions where Rotary was learned and the consequent impact on the lives in our Communities discussed.
Past President Katrina remembers a sage piece of advice offered by PP Johnny that has stuck with her through her personal, professional and Rotary life - To those to whom much is given, much is expected.
Past President Basil Springer says of PP Johnny, his strengths included vision, discipline, leadership, setting an example for his children, family bonding, passion, persistence, patience, ambition, self-confidence, good relationships and true friendship. Johnny was a blessed man, but moreover, a blessing to his family, the Rotary fraternity and countless others.
And Past President Prakash Mahtani another of our Charter members offers these comforting words – One who is born must die, do not hold him back, pray for him and let him make his journey onwards to a new life.
Words, of course, can never capture completely the richness of PP Johnny’s life and legacy. As we reflect, we thank God for his stewardship in all its many forms and the contributions he made whilst with us. We thank him for his contribution to Rotary and to the Rotary Club of Barbados South and Rotary the world over.
We extend our deepest sympathy and love to PP Johnny’s immediate family, John Jr., Lana and Giselle, sister Judy and to all his sorrowing relatives.
The Rotary Club of Barbados South also offers sincere condolences to our fellow Rotarian Nigel Adams, the Management and Staff of Guardian General Insurance.
PP Johnny, you have finished this race. We are sad to learn of your passing, but we know that you are rejoicing where you are today. I am happy that I got to see you one last time. We say adieu. Until we meet again. Rest in Peace and Rise in Glory.
Morior Invictus.
Remembering PP John Jones - Photo Album (click on image)
Additional Tributes from Club Members
Last Monday was, for me a deeply sad period in my life. I met Johnny, at Harrison College many years ago. As a matter of fact, I was asking myself for a while, who was the older of the two. I only found out last Monday that I am two months older than he was. He was born, I think, in October of 1949 and I was born in September. We spent many years together at Harrison College and over that time, we struck up a very good friendship. A good relationship. But more importantly, I was able to get to understand the person.
PP Johnny was a gentleman in every respect. The first Monday when the funeral was supposed to take place, an old Harrison college colleague said to me, “the funeral has been shifted”. We all knew what the reason was. And then he and I started to talk about Johnny. It was amazing that our scripts (his script and my script), on the person, almost meshed. 100%.
But there's one thing that represented both of our feelings, and that is, you almost never wanted to disappoint Johnny, as we would call him. I said to him, “you know, I would hate to have done something for him to say to me John, I am so disappointed in you”. I always felt as though a hole would just be created for you to go into it for a while. That was the man that I knew. I had and will always have a sense of respect, tremendous respect for the person. There was a seriousness about him.
Yes, there was a jovial side of Johnny, but there was always that serious side. You could always learn something from him. If you asked him to do anything, and he said yes, you can be absolutely certain that he is going to respond and do his best. And when he came to you and said, I would like you to do X or Y, you would find it extremely difficult to say no.
I have learnt a lot in Rotary. I’m talking about the early 1990s, when I first joined Rotary. I learnt a lot from PP Johnny. If there's one place I would go to at Christmas time was home by Johnny with his family. He would invite over all of the old Harrisonians and other guys who didn't even go to school there. That was one event that you dare not miss, you would go early in the morning and leave late at night. He was the person who was a wonderful entertainer.
I'm going to miss him. His contribution to Rotary. We miss more importantly his wise counsel. He was a person I could always call and trust. Anything under the sun. I could take the most sensitive matter to him. And you will know that you can talk to him, and it is going to remain there. He is a tremendous loss to our club and also a gift. I am proud to have known him. It was a pleasure for all these years. Going back to the to the 1960s at Harrison College. May he rest in peace and rise glory. - PP John Williams
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
For me, it's difficult to call and refer to PP John as John or Johnny. I always, even to the time of his passing, refer to him as Mr. Jones, because my interaction with him started as an employee.
I first met him in 1983 when a former headmaster of mine, LS Wellington, who was a teacher of his, I think his Latin teacher had referred me to him. He knew that Mr. Jones, Johnny was looking for an employee at the time, at the then Caribbean Home in accounts. He referred me to him and I went for an interview. Mr. Jones asked me if I could start work January of the following year and that is how we started. I believe he took me on solely on the recommendation of his former teacher (my former headmaster) because I knew nothing about accounts, much less insurance.
From day one, he took me under his wing and for some reason, he took a personal interest in me and my development. In my early years at Caribbean home, I was included in what he referred to as his cabinet which would have been his management meetings.
This deep interest in me was not just me, I soon came to realize that it was characteristic of this man who, to my mind was a very nurturing leader and one who mentored many of his staff. Several of them have gone on to assume leadership positions, especially in the insurance industry in Barbados.
Within about a year or two of my joining Caribbean Home, he encouraged me to pursue insurance exams, which I did. He would always point me in the direction of pursuing in British exams, as opposed to North American and that was, how it was back then. I pursued all British exams following his advice.
Then, I remember one time in 1992, he came to me summoned me rather to his office and started off by saying, “how old are you, Nigel?” and that was the opening remark. I told him my age. And he said, I want to send you to Germany to do some additional training. He did and I spent a couple of months in Germany at the largest reinsurance company in the world. But before then, he sent me to Jamaica. The group at the time, had a subsidiary in Jamaica that was really in need of help. He volunteered help from the Barbados operation and that help was in the form of myself.
He took this very keen personal interest in my development. We developed more than, an employee-employer relationship, ours became a real familial bond. And he filled for me a void. At the time, he was my mentor, a confidant, a consultant, someone I could easily refer to. And even though he was a stickler for excellence, and did not tolerate folly, I was one of the staff members that he never quarreled with. Even when I made errors, he was always this nurturing and guiding.
I remember one time, very early in my career, I would get to work very early, so a lot of the staff would not be there. And for some reason, that morning, the phone rang. Unfortunately, I was the only person there. This was in the first couple of months of my joining the company, and not yet tuned into business. I picked up the phone and answered Hello. And he quickly responded, “who is this?” When I said who it was, that was the end of it. He never said, “this is how you do it”, “you did it wrong”. I think he realized by my own tone, that I too, had realized that I had erred all be it after the fact. And he never said anything. But he knew, I'm sure he knew that I had learnt my lesson. I never made that error again.
Our relationship just blossomed. I then moved on for a few years to a competitor, Sagicor. But we maintained our relationship. And sometime in 2005, we were at a function of a mutual friend, and he said to me, “Nigel, we need to talk”. It was some time subsequently that we met somewhere down at Weisers bar, and he said, “Nigel, I would like you to come back and I am preparing to retire I would like you to come back and succeed me”. That is how it unfolded.
This bond extended to my immediate family, my wife and two young girls at the time that we were raising, and he became Uncle Johnny to them. They insisted that they had to be at the funeral on Monday. That is not something they would normally do but they had such love and respect for him that they insisted they were going to Uncle Johnny's funeral on Monday. His family and my family became very close. I am deeply missing him. He is someone that I could always turn to. If I wanted a second opinion on any matter, he would take me out to meet clients and he would always be sharing some piece of advice, this nurturing mentoring person that I got to be really close with.
I just want to say that there are four key characteristics about him that I would like to highlight. One, he was a consummate professional. I don't think anybody can question that. as PP John said, if he gave you his word, his word was his bond. By the same token, he did not suffer foolishness or fools gladly, he would let you know when you were off base, and not that he was being disrespectful, but he would let you know in as firm a way as possible. We came to respect him for that, certainly in the industry. He was a very caring leader, so that my experience was not, unique to me. It was one that he undertook with others under his care. He was very strict but was characterized by principled leadership. He was a man of his word. And if he gave you his word, even if it hurt, that was it so that in the insurance business, if John Jones said, I will pay even if he found out subsequently that there's a reason that he may not have to pay, he would let his word be his bond.
I want to say that there's a deep hole left within the insurance industry and certainly, within our Rotary Club. He was my sponsor, he brought me into Rotary in 2011 and nurtured me along that way as well. There are others in the club, but he was always there for me in terms of nurturing my development in Rotary as well. I end by saying, this is one who embodies the motto service above self and one who we can be very proud of as a past president and founder of this club. May he rest in peace rise in glory. - PHF Nigel Adams
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I first met PP. John Jones at Harrison college. He was the brother of one of my contemporaries Ed Jones. However, our relationship got much closer when I joined RCBS which he was a founding member. That alone made me know that this is the club I wanted to be part of. Furthermore, when I became President of the club, PP Johnny had an understanding way of lending me continuous support. I had asked him to my VP as I had seen him be VP for every president before me. I was most disappointed when he said he could not. He gently told me he could not do it. And he recommended someone else which I did. I was disappointed then but I understood nevertheless, better thereafter. In the longer term, I understood what was happening.
PP Johnny attended meetings during my presidency, few would have noticed, but he always came to me directly after the meeting, to offer words of guidance and encouragement. So kind, thoughtful, humble and helpful was he. I admire him. For those lasting qualities, I deeply appreciate the example he has set for all of us in this club. May he rest in peace. - PP Vivian-Anne Gittens