It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Pamela Dare Swaby, Lady Pamela, in Mississauga, Ontario on February 16, 2022. She was much loved by her daughters Suzanne Hague (John) and Marcia Swaby (David Wood), as well as her grandchildren Michael (deceased), Chris (Amanda) and Matthew (Matthew), who, with affection, called her Granny Grumpy and her two great-grandchildren Arianna and James Hague.
Born in St. Vincent in 1929 to Captain Harold Dare M.C. and Laura Dare, Lady Pamela spent her personal and professional life in love with travel.
She began her career in 1954, selling tours at the Bay Rock Hotel in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Though she had little formal education, she had a tireless work ethic, which helped her become Jamaica’s first national tour director. In that role, she set up guided tours around the island while also training drivers and guides to explain Jamaica’s historical, social and cultural points of interest with humour and flair. She herself was a beloved storyteller and will be missed for her witty tales and travel adventures.
Starting in the 1960s, she worked internationally, spending five years at Air Canada in Toronto, and seven years in New York City where she launched an office for the Jamaican government to promote the short-term rentals of villas and apartments. She spent a further five years in Canada organizing chartered tours to the Caribbean.
In 1977, she settled in the Cayman Islands, a place she loved deeply, where she was instrumental in developing the island’s local tourism industry. In addition to helping to launch two hotels – the Beach Club Colony and Spanish Bay Reef – she was a past President of the Cayman Islands Hotel and Condominiums Association, a past Chairman of the CIHCA’s Marketing Committee and a recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the Cayman Islands government for her service to tourism.
While in Cayman, she saw the island transform from a quiet place of beach huts with almost no restaurants to a dynamic destination with five-star hotels, fine dining and a strong reputation for excellent hospitality. Because of her hand in realizing that transformation, she was knighted by Prince Henri, Grand Master of the Knights of Malta in 1988 as Lady Pamela Swaby, Dame of Grace, Sovereign Order of the Oak.
Despite her accolades and achievements, one of her greatest legacies is the many people she helped train, mentor and encourage – from all backgrounds. To her, nothing was impossible; she always motivated those around her to aspire to better. “No job is menial,” she once told the Cayman Compass while explaining how she inspired young employees, even those in seemingly unimportant roles. “For if a job is to be done, you do it to the best of your ability. You set your goal to the highest standard and become executive housekeeper or a manager.”
It is an attitude that she not only espoused, but which helped her rise from a someone selling tours in a hotel, to someone many people called The Queen of Cayman.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Wednesday, February 23, 2022, at 3 p.m. in Canada. To view details please visit Pamela Dare Swaby (turnerporter.permavita.com). The Celebration will also be live streamed via Zoom; the link will be posted on the site on Tuesday, February 22nd. In lieu of flowers please donate to one of the 3 foundations listed on the site.
Below: Barrie Quappe interviews Pamela Swaby & Suzy Soto on Cayman27.
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