Sir John Compton - The Farther of St Lucia

Born 29th April 1925 - Died 7th September 2007

 
 
Sir John Compton  -  Lady Janice Compton at the Funeral
      
Profile of Sir John George Melvin Compton KBE

 Born on 29th April 1926 , in Canouan, one of the Grenadines islands belonging to St Vincent, Sir John and Lady Janice Compton have been married for over 38 years.

 They have 5 children, one boy and four girls, and four grandchildren, Taj, Kiani, Sian and Cakari.

 Sir John lives at his Gros Islet home, where he is known to relax mainly by working on his farm growing a mixture of food such as bananas, coconuts and cocoa.

 Like so many of his political cohorts, Sir John’s political career is built on a solid base in the legal profession, having studied law and being called to the Bar in England. Entering politics as a member of the St Lucia Labour Party, it was here he started to fight to give working class people a better life; no wonder he is often referred to as Pa Pa, or the Father of St Lucia.

 However, under the Labour Party Sir John became disillusioned over the party’s efforts to secure a better life for working class people, and therefore he took a brave STEP FORWARD and formed the United Workers Party (UWP) in 1964.

 This STEP FORWARD resulted in Sir John holding the position of “premier / prime minister” on 3 occasions, namely 1964 to 1979; 1982 to 1996; and 2006 to 2007.

As an anti-colonialist, arguably one of Sir John’s greatest achievements was to lead St Lucia to independence from the UK in February 1979. This is now part of his legacy, along with the role he played in the establishment of key Caribbean institutions, including CARICOM, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the West Indies Association States Council of Ministers (WISA), the Eastern Caribbean Common Market (ECCM), and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). 

 Sir John Compton has been and still is one of the main liberators of St Lucia, propelling it into modernity with the major reconstruction of its social and economic base. 

 

Click here to see a: Video Extract of Sir Johns Funeral Procession



What some people said about Sir John during the Funeral Service

He would say - "Laugh and the whole world laughs with you - cry and you cry alone"

When he was a young man, Sister Adalaide Lewis told him "Instead of having your fishing rod on your shoulder, you should have a pen in your pocket and a book in your hand" - He went into politics after this!

A great sailor, Sir John often used the term - "hold her down, hold her down" - when he refered to steering St Lucia

Sir John was from the old breed - he came to serve and not to be served

He was a hard working dedicated man, people of Micoud would never let him down

Sir John would say "My friends I know, my enemies I must cultivate them"

Sir John prefered to live in his own home instead of Parliament House

Each Wednesday at home he would cook a lovely soup - only he knew the ingredients to

One of his favourite words was "Opportunity"

Sir John was a visionary leader