Former Miss World BVI departed this life
Brenda Lewis, a former Miss World BVI and a Law Graduate, died at Peebles Hospital on Saturday 30 September at the age of 35.
A native of Dominica, Brenda had come to Tortola with her parents during her childhood. She grew up in these islands, graduated from the BVI High School, and was a naturalised citizen of the Territory. In 1986, Brenda won the first Miss World BVI beauty pageant, which gave her an opportunity to represent the British Virgin Islands in the international beauty pageant in Hong Kong and Macao. She successfully pursued higher studies in communications and business administration at Temple University and Loyola University in the United States. In Tortola, Miss Lewis held executive positions in the private sector (Cable & Wireless, and Chase Manhattan NA), and managed a small consultancy firm in the mid-1990s.
Her professional experience with Chase Manhattan Bank was continued through resident assignments to offices of the bank in St. Thomas (USVI) and Barbados. During the two years she spent in Barbados, Miss Lewis was able, in parallel to her banking occupation, to pursue her studies further at the Law Faculty of the University of the West Indies (Cave Hill Campus) where she earned a Bachelor of Laws degree in June of this year. She was the daughter of Dominica’s Magistrate Osie Lewis. The Publishers, Management and Staff of The Island Sun newspaper wish to express their deepest condolences to the bereaved family, especially Brenda's brothers, Billy and Michael, her sister Maryan, and the relatives of her mother, the late Theresa Massicote-Jefferson.