JOVIAL JACK DE
LIMA FELLED BY STROKE
By Clevon Raphael
Independent
January 14, 2000
Page 19
The last thing Jack De Lima needs - if he could tell you himself - is
your sympathy.
But
despite his upbeat and otherwise chirpy disposition, one cannot help but feel
some kind of empathy with this one-time titan in the local business and
political arenas.
Today,
De Lima, who turns 79, on January 29, is but a shadow of his physical self, the
result of a debilitating stroke in 1995, which left him speechless and unable
to walk.
While
he has regained limited use of his legs and gets around with the use of a quad
cane, De Lima's only words uttered now are the occasional "yes",
"no", and when he wants to attract attention or is in a jovial mood,
he shouts: "Aaah-yah-yai!"
To
the uninitiated, De Lima, who sat on the boards of several companies in the
private domain and chaired others in the State enterprise sector, is one of the
country's most patriotic citizens, who combined his business acumen with that
of public service, the latter afforded through his support for the People's
National Movement.
The
fifth of his parents' seven children, he straddled the corridors of power and
among offices he held were Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers'
Association, Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Trinidad and
Tobago Tourist Board, the Industrial Development Corporation and the National
Flour Mills.
In
the private sector, the directorships included WITCO, Printing and Packaging
Limited, Bank of Nova Scotia, Maritime Life, and of course the family's jewelry
firm, Y De Lima and Company Limited.
At
an interview with his charming wife of 41 years, Cherrie, at their splendid
home in upscale Beaumont Road, Maraval, Jack was able only to laugh at a humourous
remark, nod approvingly or on the rare occasion, disapprovingly, according to
what was said.
He
just couldn't wait to give the Independent a short tour of their home and one
could see the gleam in his eyes when stopping at the entrance to the dining
room, with a shake of his head, as if saying, "Doesn't this look just
marvelous?"
"He
always takes his visitors on a tour of the house," Cherrie explains.
Four
months after the stroke fell him she took Jack to a rehabilitation centre in
Miami where after ten days he was able to walk again.
"But
the prognosis for the return of full speech is not optimistic," she said
with a tinge of sadness.
His
long period in serving the public came to an end in 1986 following the historic
routing of the People's National Movement by the National Alliance for
Reconstruction in the general elections of that year.
At
that time Jack was chairman of the National Flour Mills and he was credited
with drastically turning around the fortunes of this State-owned enterprise, which
was in financial straits when he took charge of it.
"He
left NFM with plenty, plenty money" Cherrie, an accomplished handicraft
artist who will be 60 this year, reminisced last Thursday morning.
His
public service came to an end when, not waiting for the NAR government to ask
him and others in similar positions to resign, he tendered his resignation.
"But
there were those who felt the government should have asked him to stay on
because of the excellent job he was doing there", Cherrie de Lima said, without
any rancour.
Asked
if he was still a supporter of the PNM, Jack muttered an audible
"no."
But
his wife quickly interjected: "You cannot say that, you want Erica
(Williams-Connell) to be mad at you?"
Adding that the daughter of the country's first Prime Minister always
visited their home whenever she was in Trinidad.
"Aaah-yah-yai!"
he intones with a big smile.
Jack,
she confessed, was sometimes a very lonely and missed his friends some of whom
she moaned, did not even bother to look for him.
She
was thankful, though, for the support from people at the Bank of Nova Scotia,
WITCO and CPI who waited on him, hoping that he would have fully recovered
before formally severing official ties with him.
In
1979 he caused a national furor when in the midst of a popular outrage about
social conditions, Jack made his famous "Count your blessings"
statement for which he was criticized by forces opposed to the then PNM
administration.
But
the father of five stuck to his view and rode out the controversy.
Today
Jack spends very quiet days, a typical one being getting up at 5 a.m., having
breakfast, leaving for therapy, returning home and spending the rest of the day
looking at television and reading the newspapers.
"One
of the things he misses very much is the old talk sessions. If he was able to speak he would have
peppered you with some juicy tidbits," Cherrie says with a mischievous
smile as we said good-bye.