Avia Ustanny, Outlook Writer
THEIR EXCELLENCIES Sir Howard Felix Hanlan Cooke and Lady Cooke will be moving house this month, leaving behind the palatial rooms of King's House for their own home.
The couple, who will this year celebrate 67 years of marriage, have just completed their stint as the first citizens of the nation and will be residing between Montego Bay and Kingston as Sir Howard pursues his new role as Chancellor of the new International University of the Caribbean an institution headquartered at 47 Hope Road in the capital city.
"I intend to have a good, long rest," Lady Cooke wife of the Governor-General who has been matron of King's House for the last 14 years declared in an interview last week with Outlook. Her husband knows better. It is not in his wife's nature to vegetate. According to Sir Howard, "Its impossible for people of our nature to relax to, become fossils. She can't keep still."
He is almost certain, he says, that his wife will be pulling him out of bed early mornings to assist her in gardening which she passionately loves.
Lady Cooke at King's House was responsible for running her household with an iron hand. (The couple has been without a housekeeper for the longest while, because no one can meet her exacting standards, her husband says). She has personally seen to the revival
of the King's House gardens, creating vegetable and orchid gardens which were the envy of many.
FRUIT TREES
Together, the couple also replanted the King's House property with over 100 fruit trees. Their collection of farm animals at one time included goats, rabbits, cattle and chicken. They still eat fish from their own fish pond also created at the instigation of Lady Cooke.
The couple shares a love of nature that goes back to childhood. Lady Cooke was born in Warsop, Trelawny and Sir Howard was born in Goodwill, St. James.
Sir Howard made his first cry on November 13, 1915 and remembers his childhood as if it were yesterday.
Goodwill he states, was one of the first free villages and those born in this area shared a robust philosophy of self-determination. It was near this community that Marcus Garvey the man who went on to put the black man in the international limelight of the 20th century was also born.
"We grew up with the thought that
people had to be honest, courageous and everyone needed to be trained for the future development of the community."
Sir Howard readily admits that he was deeply influenced by Garvey's philosophies, accepting these, but noting his belief that they were an internalisation of the same values with which he grew up.
Sir Howard was educated at elementary and private schools, then went on to Mico College and London University. On July 22, 1939, he married Ivy Sylvia Lucille Tai and started on a career of teaching, which lasted for 23 years.
MADE HIS MARK
Sir Howard taught at Mico College and Mico Practising School and later became headmaster at Belle Castle All-Age School, Port Antonio Upper School, and Montego Bay Boys' School. He was a member and former president of the Jamaica Union of Teachers.
The man who was to become Governor-General made his mark in the insurance industry as senior inspector and branch manager, Standard Life Insurance Company; unit manager, Jamaica Mutual Life and branch manager, American Life Insurance Company (ALICO).
As early as 1938, Sir Howard was an enthusiastic participant in political life. He was one of the founding members of the People's National Party and he has been a member of the Executive and the National Executive, then chairman of the Regional Executive and chairman of the party.
In 1958 he was elected to the West Indies Federal Parliament, as the representative for St. James.He entered the Jamaican Parliament in 1962, and served as Senator until early 1967.
Sir Howard served as a member of the House of Representatives between 1967 and 1980, and was a minister of Government between 1972 and 1980. As minister, he held, at different times, the portfolios of pension and social security, education, labour and the public service and he was president of the Senate from 1989-1991 and served on the executive of the Common-wealth Parliamentary Association.
On Thursday, August 1, 1991, he was installed as Governor-General of Jamaica at King's House.
DENOMINATIONAL DIFFERENCES
The highlights of his career have been numerous, but at the top of them all was his work with the church. Many local churches, he said, have with his guidance looked beyond their denominational differences towards a new, unified role in fighting against crime and other social ills.
Next was the establishment of the prestigious Governor-General's Achievement Award by The Gleaner Company which annually highlights the success of Jamaicans who have risen above enormous odds to achieve positions of
influence.
Sir Howard is also proud, he says, to see the successful work of Prime Minister P.J. Patterson in dissipating political anger. "Believe me, one of the things I admire about him is that he is very pacific in relating to other groups. He has dissipated the kind of warfare we had before his time."
Sir Howard craves a peaceful society. Although he expresses complete dedication to the cause of education and social upliftment, he believes, "The creative genius can only express itself when there is no war".
The incumbent Governor-General admits that while he was known as a firebrand in his earlier days, "I soon found out that you should not first be an irritant, but (instead) you should create the climate for growth."
In his political life, he told Outlook, he was most impressed by what could happen in local communities when there was peace. On several occasions he saw community centres, schools and other infrastructure going up without "one cent" being requested from the Government.
While Sir Howard has been busy travelling about the country, Lady Cooke oversaw extensive refurbishing projects on the property, including the establishment of a kitchen, sitting room and entertainment area in the house removing the necessity to climb up and down the King's House stairs several times a day. She also explains: "I am the kind of person who must see what my husband gets to eat."
The couple wishes to thank the Hon. Dennis Lalor who formed the King's House Foundation and raised funds to refurbish areas which were badly in need of repair, replacing flooring and windows.
Above all, Lady Cooke is proud of having created the expanded King's House gardens, launching nationally, the idea of the kitchen garden. From their own efforts, the couple eats ground provisions which feature prominently in Sir Howard's diet which he describes as "very balanced".
"He eats everything," we were told. For exercise, Sir Howard walked the extensive grounds of King's House in the evenings.
Manure for the King's House kitchen garden was produced from cattle and other animals on the property.
EXOTIC PLANTS
"We came from the village where there was no fertiliser," the couple explain. In addition to fruit trees, King's House now boasts several exotic plants which will stand as reminders of the man and woman who brought the village to King's House.
Lady Cooke expresses the opinion that together, they have made it possible for many who believed that King's House was not a place for poorer people, to change their view. The woman who was the gracious host to Their Royal Highnesses, Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh when they visited Jamaica, February 2002, says feelingly: "King's House was once the preserve of very influential people. We have made this institution available to people who never thought that they could come here."
She made King's House the venue of the annual general meeting of the Rural Women's Programme, a fact which astonished participants. This is a programme that emanates out of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA). In appreciation of this, she has received heartfelt thanks and several gifts of hampers laden with yellow yams and other ground provisions from rural women and, on one occasion, a half-ripe sour sop.
Lady Cooke also recalls the occasion when a man from Hanover called at midnight to ask "Teacher Cooke" to call the police for him, as his nephew with whom he had a fuss, was outside attempting to break down his door and the police would not respond to his calls. Sir Howard called the Hanover police and they were at the man's door in minutes.
Sir Howard shares his wife's mission in reaching the ordinary Jamaican and adds that he enjoys the fact that his wife is his intellectual equal because "it is not everything that you can tell others." She has helped him on many occasions to analyse situations and make decisions.
Lady Cooke is the product of extensive training which carried her into various leadership positions in the teaching field. A graduate of Warsop All-Age School and Bethlehem Training College for Teachers, she has also pursued courses at the Department of Child Development Institute of Education, University of London, and various educational courses at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica.
MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS
She has made major contributions to many social projects, including the Latin American and Caribbean First Ladies Group on Social Programmes for Mother, Child and Family. She has an
interest in programmes for the advancement of early childhood education and the status of women, as well as rural agriculture.
Lady Cooke on several occasions, gave speeches on Sir Howard's behalf when he was engaged elsewhere. They will continue to work together in this way. Sir Howard reveals that, "despite my age (91), they have asked me to be Chancellor of the new International University of the Caribbean." He added that he will be very interested in contributing to the development of the organisation.
Sir Howard has always had an interest in youth. In addition to his roles as school principal and in the Ministry of Education, he has served as scout master and secretary for the St. Andrew Boys' Scout Association and captained several cricket teams including the County of Cornwall cricket team.
PROUD PARENTS
Sir Howard and Lady Cooke are parents of two sons, the Honourable Mr. Justice Howard Fitz-Arthur Cooke, Puisne Judge, and Richard Washington McDermott Cooke, hotelier; and one daughter, Audrey Faith Cooke, consultant in international affairs who recently gave up this post to become a guidance counsellor a fact which impresses her father as being very non-materialistic.
Sir Howard intends to continue his work in the church. He remains a senior elder and lay pastor in the United Church of Jamaica and The Cayman Islands, and is lay pastor and past chairman of the Cornwall Council of Churches.
Avowed Christians, the couple admires humility and says they will continue to make the upliftment of others their focus in life, even in this their second retirement.
