As the sun set in the background on Saturday afternoon, family, friends and well-wishers said their final farewells to former West Bay legislator John Jefferson Sr., popularly know as Chef John.
The two-time member of the then-Legislative Assembly was laid to rest at West Bay Cemetery after an official funeral service complete with a guard of honour at Wesleyan Holiness Church on Northwest Point, West Bay.
Paying tribute to the West Bay stalwart, Premier Alden McLaughlin described Jefferson as a widely respected man who was deeply admired in the Cayman Islands. He would often visit the Legislative Assembly after he retired, and would be heard on radio talk shows giving his views on matters of national interest.
“He was an effective MLA,” McLaughlin said, adding that he was always attending to his constituents. Recounting Jefferson’s political career, during which he served two terms from 1968 until 1976, the premier said Jefferson was a firm believer that everything he did was for the best of these islands.
McLaughlin said he was pleased that Jefferson laid in state at the newly renamed House of Parliament, a befitting honour for a legislator of his calibre.
Jefferson, he said, was instrumental in the formation of the 1972 constitution and was integral, even though it cost him the election, to moving infrastructural projects forward like new road networks, the Glass House, the courthouse and more.
The premier said while Cayman may be criticised for what it is now, it was people like Jefferson who laid the foundation to create the country everyone enjoys today.
Many, he said, do not know the sacrifices, the “struggles” people like Jefferson faced to build the Cayman Islands and he was elected in a time of “significant political transition.”
Apart from his political career, Jefferson, he said, was “known for his succulent ribs and chicken which was also one of the many facets of the man many called ‘Chef John’.”
With the Cayman Islands flag draped over Jefferson’s casket, tributes from churches he served, his family members, and others were read one after the other.
Reverend Kim Evans called upon the congregation to look upon the life that Jefferson lived as an example.
House Speaker McKeeva Bush, who read the obituary, reflected on his relationship with Jefferson and recounted times when the elder legislator would call to commend him or criticise decisions he took.
He said he could tell which one was coming by the way Jefferson would refer to him as either “Mr. Bush” or “Mac.”
Jefferson, he said, was his old Sunday school teacher, and he would often rely on his Christian faith to guide his deliberations.
He said Jefferson would also quote the Bible as he made his points in the LA.
“There was no stronger defender of the Christian faith,” Bush said, adding that Jefferson would say the laws must always reflect the Caymanian tradition.
Jefferson, he said, was the eldest of eight and worked at the US Weather Bureau on Swan Island for 21 years. While there he met and married his first wife, Norma Marilyn Jefferson, and they had nine children.
They returned to Grand Cayman in 1966 after he retired from the Weather Bureau. He worked as the head chef at the Galleon Beach Hotel and was sent to Vancouver, British Columbia for formal training and later became Cayman’s first executive chef.
In 1968, he contested his first election and won. He was subsequently reelected.
Bush said it was during Jefferson’s term in office that Cayman’s first governor, Athelstan Long, was appointed.
Jefferson supported the Cadastral Survey System being implemented in Cayman, which helped resolve land issues. Bush said that stance would cost Jefferson dearly, but that system helped make Cayman what it is today.
“John always fought for the rights of his people,” Bush said.
A point the premier agreed on, adding that beach access was an issue close to Jefferson, who firmly believed that Caymanians must always have access to the beach.
Jefferson was ordained on 10 June 2007 by the International Conservative Holiness Association in Indiana, and days later he was awarded a Certificate and Badge of Honour for his overall service for the greater good of the community, Bush added.
He later married Merline White in 2011 following the death of his first wife.
At the end of the service, the casket was carried by the honour guard to the hearse for transport to the interment at the nearby cemetery.
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