PROMINENT EAST END FARMER, SAILOR & BUSINESSMAN PASSES
A service of thanksgiving was held on Saturday February 3rd
at the Long Look Methodist Church for a stalwart of the BVI community,
the late
Captain Maxwell Anton Lettsome of East End.
Mr. Lettsome, who was born 25th June 1908 at Old Plantation,
passed away on January 28th after a period of illness. He was
the second of 21
children and assisted in the rearing of the younger siblings.
He is survived by his wife Geneva Lettsome, sons Benjamin, Ralph,
Quincy and
Jeffrey Lettsome, daughter Almede Connor, brother Alvin Lettsome
and sisters Oxelena Chalwell, Ina Walters, Leona Crabbe, 17
grandchildren, 18 great grandchildren and 1 great, great grandchild.
His first wife Floreca preceded him in death.
The service was officiated by Reverend Charlesworth Browne. Scripture
readings were presented by granddaughters Carla Fahie and Tracy
Lettsome Taylor and daughter Almede Connor and special selections
by sister Leona Crabbe, the Long Look Methodist Choir, Senior
Citizens
and Class No.1 and grandson Sym Lettsome.
In eulogizing his father, Dr. Quincy Lettsome recalled that his
father and his elder brother, the late Harris Lettsome, assisted
in the rearing of their
younger siblings. “He continued to work and at the age of
9 or 10, attended the then East End Methodist Church School at
Chapel Hill.”
When he became a young man, Mr. Lettsome worked on Guana Island
for many years raising cattle and cultivating sugar cane, which
was
transported to Cane Garden Bay to be converted into rum and sugar.
He later assisted his family in building a boat “and then
he began being a
real Captain, even though he had sailed lots of times before.”
His sailing and trading took him to countries such as Antigua,
St. Kitts, Anguilla, St.
Eustatius, Saba, St. Marten, USVI and Puerto Rico.
In partnership with the late Edward Frett and Alvanley Frett
of East End, they built a shop known as the Wasp and a vessel,
the Parhamtown. In
later years, he also sailed on the schooner Leda P, which was
built at Fat Hog’s Bay. Though frequently on sea, when he
was home, he farmed
at Old Plantation and Spring Ghut. There, he assisted his late
in-laws, Ezekiel Malone and Rosetta Malone in transporting arrowroot
to the Mill
at Long Swamp, where it was processed to produce arrowroot starch
and food for livestock.
He also played a significant role in agriculture. During the
1950’s and early 1960’s, the Agricultural and craft
exhibition was held in his house.
Stalls were erected in the living room on which crafts and other
items were displayed. In addition, he supervised the Dipping
Vat, which was
then located near his home in Long Swamp. As an entrepreneur,
the late Maxwell Lettsome owned and managed a grocery shop at
Long
Swamp. He also opened an ESSO Service Station at Long Swamp,
which later was changed to a Shell Service Station.
Dr. Lettsome said the late Maxwell Lettsome lived a full life.
He said: “He was privileged to have seen the beginning of
two centuries…he
witnessed the far reaching changes in his native island: from
donkey and horse to vehicles, from windjammers to fast sailing
motor boats, from
kites to airplanes. He was thrifty, hardworking and from making
ends meet, he blossomed into a farmer, sailor, a Captain of note
and a shrewd
businessman and entrepreneur.”
The deceased was a member of the Long Look Methodist Church where
he worshipped until his health failed him. He was also a staunch
member of the Senior Citizens of the East End/Long Look communities.
The management and staff of the Island extend the deepest condolences
to the family.
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