Peter Espeut

There are countless unsung heroes in our past, and in our present too. Last week Monday I buried a son of Jamaica whose remarkable accomplishments are legion, and of whom all of us should be proud. In fact, without knowing it, millions of Jamaicans have benefited from his efforts, yet in life he received few honours or accolades - nor did he seek them - but his story can be an inspiration for many.

Paul Anton Heron Thompson was born in Port Maria in 1913; his father was a police sergeant and his mother was a teacher. He was one of that small group of pioneers who banded together in 1941 to form Jamaica's first successful credit union; in fact, he was the first president. Like the other pioneers (the full story really needs to be told) he helped to spread the gospel of credit unions around Jamaica; he founded the GSB Credit Union, and went on to be the president of the Jamaica Cooperative Credit Union League.

He travelled to St. Francis Xavier University in Canada to receive special training in cooperatives and credit unions. He helped to establish the credit union movement in our sister Caribbean islands, and his expertise was recognized internationally; he was appointed to the advisory group to the Cooperative Resources Committee of Washington DC, U.S.A.

Admirer

Of course, all this was volunteer work; he believed in volunteerism, and in giving service to his country, to the poor, and to his church. He was a lifelong Roman Catholic, and brought up his family to love God and neighbour. His children are my contemporaries, and because I was their friend, I became his friend also. But I was also an admirer.

In terms of his professional career, after graduating from Titchfield High School he began his working life at 18 years old in the newsroom here at The Gleaner, and he never lost his love for writing. He joined the staff of the Colonial Department of Housing, later the Ministry of Housing, in 1933, and became an expert in the provision of housing; When he retired in 1969 after 36 years service he had risen to become the principal deputy to the Permanent Secretary. He told me that he was passed over several times as Permanent Secretary because he was not a Lodge member (Roman Catholics are forbidden to become Freemasons), but that is another story.

Upon retirement, he sought to marry his cooperative ideals with his housing expertise by founding Mutual Housing Services Ltd., a quasi-non-government organization dedicated to providing co-operative housing in Jamaica. In the end they built five cooperative housing schemes: Mountain Terrace (St Andrew); Westport (Portmore, St Catherine); Catherine Mount (Montego Bay, St. James); Delacree Park (St Andrew); and Hellshir (St Catherine). Tens of thousands of lower and lower-middle income Jamaicans have benefited from his tireless efforts to spread the gospel of co-operative housing in Jamaica, yet Paul has never received a national honour.

The United Nations recognised his expertise by sending him as Housing Advisor to the Government of Ghana from 1978-1980; never let it be said that Jamaican black people have not contributed to the development of Mother Africa! He was full of stories about troops moving across his front lawn firing automatic weapons and mortars during the civil war which broke out while he was in Ghana.

Pilot's licence

He was a brave and adventurous man. He learned to sail on small converted boats with man-made sails, and went on to sail bigger yachts. He was one of the first Jamaicans to obtain a private pilot's licence, and he flew the small single-engine plane (in which he owned a share) from Jamaica to North America and to the Eastern Caribbean. He loved life, and lived it to the fullest! He was a man of faith, who lived it out in good works!

He was a big cricket fan, and was a lot more tolerant of the West Indies team than most he was hoping for a century, he may very well be happy with 94. Rest in Peace, Paul!