Former Trade Minister, Hilbert Spence dies

Dec 04, 2012 News

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…described as incorruptible, dedicated, service-minded Guyanese
 
By Leon Suseran

“He was one of those politicians (who) never allowed wealth or corruption to stand in his way because he was above corruption and because of that, he died alone and unlike the government officials of today.

“My father was just an average, simple person who lived a very, very simple life—no luxury, no wealth, no nothing and as he told me and some members of this club, corruption was not part of his life. That was the way he was brought up by his parents.”
Former Minister of Trade, Hilbert Spence died on Saturday at his Joseph Pollydore Street, Lodge residence in Georgetown. He was 92. According to his son, Hilbert Foster, Chief Executive Officer of the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club, his father was a very active member of the business community in Berbice.
“He was a founder- member of the New Amsterdam Lions Club which started on October 23, 1961. Over the years he was President and Secretary of the club.”
Spence was a senior member of the Berbice Chambers of Commerce and first Insurance Manager of the Colonial Life Insurance Company (Clico), a branch which he started in New Amsterdam in the late 1950s “and was mainly responsible for promoting the company in Berbice”.
On the political level, Mr Spence worked closely with Mr Peter D’Aguiar of The United Force (TUF) party. After the TUF and People’s National Congress (PNC) merged in 1964, he joined the latter and served as Member of Parliament. He was later appointed, in1967, by Prime Minister Forbes Burnham as Minister of Trade.
His son, Hilbert, added “After D’Aguiar and Burnham parted ways, he stayed with Burnham but after a while, he became tired of the political situation in Guyana. Because my father was very outspoken, he departed the political scene but he still remained quite active and he served as General Manager of Guyana Wrefords in New Amsterdam”.
“Then he went across to the Guyana National Trading Corporation where he served as a senior executive until his retirement in the 1980s,” he stated.
Spence remained active in the Lions Club in Georgetown and also quite active in the Lodge in the city. “My father also played a great part in the establishment of the Esplanade Park in the 1970s in New Amsterdam. Oscar Ramjeet (newspaper columnist) wrote that Hilbert Spence was one of the people in Guyana who really should be honoured; he was a silent hero who was never honoured by the government, I guess because of his outspokenness and free mind to talk whatever came to his lips”,.
Spence played an integral role in setting up a swimming pool in the Esplanade Park in New Amsterdam, which was never completed due to “broken promises by the Town Council”.

Foster stated that despite the fact that his father did not live much with them, “he was a wonderful father to myself and Alex and I think that his leadership style is outstanding and his ability to assist the poor…and he was a role model to both of us in the sense that, his example of assisting the poor even when he did not have much, taught us to live a good life.”
This kind of living, Foster said, inspired himself and his brother, Alex, to form the St Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Youth Club (now St Francis Community Developers) and the RHTY&SC, both very outstanding groups in Guyana in their own right. The RHTY&SC is Guyana’s number one youth and sports organization/club and indeed one of the more recognized such club in the Caribbean region.
“He encouraged and inspired us to be the best we can and the work that we do at these clubs is our living testimony and tribute to our father who we love and we miss very much”.
“He used to be taking us every single place he went with his friends where they used to discuss business; the political side of it; but his falling out of the political scene robbed off on us, in that he encouraged his children to stay far away from politics and to serve humanity without supporting any political party”.
Foster added that his father was a very outstanding singer. “I remember clearly listening to him at concerts at the Lions Club…He was quite good. He was also quite active in the Anglican Church and he believed strongly in the values of the Anglican Church. Despite the fact that his children were Catholics, he never encouraged us to switch”.
His dad’s final years were spent in Georgetown. “He spent his entire life assisting people—my father worked beyond the call of duty to make a duty in the life of every single person who came to him for assistance…My father was one of the most wonderful persons; he touched the lives of thousands of people along the way, my father spent his last days quietly by himself and even his political friends; even people whom he found jobs for and for whom he made a difference, perhaps forgot him along the way. But he did not mind.”
Close friend, Trade Unionist, Mr Norman Semple in reflecting on the life of his close friend, stated, “We were good friends…he wanted me to join the N/A Lions Club…he was  very likeable, friendly and made a lot of jokes but he was committed to community service”.
Hilbert Spence’s funeral service will be at the St Sidwell’s Anglican Church at 14:00 hrs on Thursday.

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