Family and friends gathered Friday afternoon to say their final farewells to National Hero Sybil Ione McLaughlin, whose funeral service was held at Elmslie Memorial United Church in George Town.
Friday was observed as a day of mourning in Cayman, and throughout all three islands, at 9am, a minute of silence was held in Ms Sybil’s memory, as flags flew at half-mast at government buildings.
Following the church service, officers from the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service performed a 21-gun salute, aptly, at Heroes Square, in memory of the extraordinary woman who had been Cayman’s only living National Hero.
Each speaker at her service at Elmslie recalled her strength, energy, dedication and commitment, as well as the inspiration she provided to generations of Cayman’s women.
Premier Wayne Panton, in his tribute, described McLaughlin as a “trailblazer” who served Cayman with distinction and who was respected by everyone. He said, for much of her 93 years, she had dedicated her life to improving Cayman and the lives of its people.
She joined the civil service at the age of 18, at a time, Panton said, when few women were working in that capacity. At age 21, she began working as a clerk-typist in the office of the commissioner – the forerunner to the office of the governor – and then in 1959 became the first clerk of the Legislative Assembly, “shattering a glass ceiling for women around the world, paving the way for women living in countries and territories with much larger populations where the Westminster parliamentary system was established”, he said.
In 1967, she received a Member of Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) award for her work in organising a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association regional conference in the Cayman Islands.
She retired as clerk of the Legislative Assembly in 1984. Seven years later, in February 1991, she was appointed as the first Caymanian and first female Speaker of the House, a role that previously had been filled by the governor or commissioner.
Highest standards
“It was a landmark decision by the Legislative Assembly to appoint an independent speaker,” the premier said. “In reflecting on this major shift in the political construct in the Cayman Islands, it is interesting to consider that the controversy and political furor which accompanied this decision was juxtaposed against the calm, assured, steady hand and wisdom, statesmanship and expertise which Ms Sybil brought to the role of speaker. Once again, the trailblazer – she set the highest standards and commanded the respect of all members, while effortlessly quieting any potential detractors as the Cayman Islands entered a new era of parliamentary democracy.”
Panton said McLaughlin was “fiercely proud of Cayman and the system of government she helped create”.
She retired as Speaker of the House in 1996, the same year she was awarded the title of National Hero, in recognition of her contribution to Cayman’s parliamentary development, as well as to community life. She was the second person, after the late Jim Bodden, to be given that honour.
“She was confident, dignified and always conducted herself in a way which remained true to her faith and principles,” Panton said, adding, “Time and again, she rose to the occasion, breaking gender-based barriers in the process. She served with purpose, dignity and class.”
McLaughlin, as well as having a busy career, raised a family and was very involved in church and community life.
Role model
Panton said, “Many of us here today, and in the wider community, will dearly miss her friendship and wise counsel. In her life, a life centred around God, family, career and community, a woman determined to always do her best, whether she liked the job at hand or not, we see a role model of Caymanian excellence. She will remain a role model for this and for future generations.”
He added, “On May 10, 2022, the Cayman Islands lost a National Hero, a phenomenal Caymanian woman, a stalwart believer in democracy, a trailblazing women who helped a country transform its governance, a loving mother who exemplified a life well lived. Most of all, Cayman lost a true friend.”
Following the premier’s tribute, the current Speaker of the House McKeeva Bush extended his condolences and shared memories of being a teenage member of the Christian Endeavour Society, a church-based youth organisation she worked with, as well as some recollections from years later when he was a Member of the Legislative Assembly and she was Speaker of the House.
He said after Ms Sybil realised his interest in music and heard him sing, she taught him the song ‘If I Were a Voice’, which she later asked him to sing at her funeral, and which he performed at the Elmslie church on Friday.
Former premier and a cousin of the family, Alden McLaughlin, in his tribute, said what he found “most impressive among the many impressive things that Ms Sybil has done is she was able to do those things in the era in which she did. We should not forget that up until 1958, women in this country didn’t even have the right to vote. When she started work as a typist for government, she could not vote.”
He added that, during that era, there was also a prejudice against wives and mothers holding jobs at certain levels, but she had “fought through all those things in a quiet, affirmative way without seeming to cause too many waves”.
Granddaughter Natascha McLaughlin also paid tribute to her Ms Sybil, describing her as her “confidante, protector, role model and best friend”.
She said her grandmother would have been “terribly embarrassed by the fuss being made over her today, but she impacted so many lives, and was loved and cherished by anyone who had the opportunity to meet her”.
She added, “Today, we celebrate the life of an incredible, kind, funny, beautiful, loving matriarch, not just to our family but to these beautiful islands and all its people. Her memory, love and legacy will live on through all of us.”
Biography
Family friend Lemuel Hurlston read Ms Sybil’s biography, outlining her many achievements and challenges throughout her life.
She was born in Mobile, Alabama on 24 Aug. 1928, to Captain Charles Bush, of Grand Cayman, a mariner who had served in the US army in World War I, and Lottie Verona Bush, nee Morton, of Cayman Brac. Following the sudden death of her father when she was just 2 years old, Sybil, her two brothers, her sister and her mother moved to Grand Cayman to live with her grandparents and two aunts in South Sound.
She was 4 years old when the devastating 1932 hurricane struck Grand Cayman, destroying her grandfather Charles Bush’s boat ‘The Diamond’, which was the main source of the family’s income, as well as the family vegetable garden. Shortly afterwards, her aunt Ella, who was visiting the family in Cayman, took Sybil with her when she returned to her home in Bluefields, Nicaragua, to ease the economic hardship of the family as they recovered from the storm.
In Nicaragua, the child became fluent in Spanish, and at the local church developed an interest in organ music that she retained throughout her life. Ella returned Sybil to her family in South Sound when she was 8, and she attended the George Town government elementary school, where she excelled at her studies. At a time when most children left school at 14, it was decided that Sybil should continue her education, so she returned to Nicaragua to attend a small high school, and later a Baptist college in Managua, where she received a first class honours diploma. During her time in Nicaragua, her grandparents and her brother Charles passed away.
She returned to Cayman, and shortly before her 18th birthday, she was hired as a clerk-typist in the commissioner’s office.
In 1949, she married a police sergeant, Delworth McLaughlin, who embarked on a career as a seaman. After returning from sea, he set up Delworth’s Esso in North Church Street. The couple had two sons, Gordon and Christopher. Delworth passed away in November 1987.
With the advent of Cayman’s first Constitution in 1959, and the establishment of an executive council, now known as Cabinet, under way, she was invited to serve as secretary and first clerk of the Legislative Assembly, becoming the first woman in the Commonwealth to hold this position.
She travelled extensively, to conferences and gatherings of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association around the world. She served a six-month attachment to the House of Commons, London, as well an attachment to the Northern Ireland Parliament in Stormont in 1966, and attachments to the parliaments of Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago in 1971.
In June 1967, she was awarded an MBE.
In 1982, she played a leading role in the planning and execution of the 150th anniversary of parliamentary governance in the Cayman Islands, as well as in the royal visits by Queen Elizabeth II in 1983 and 1994.
She retired as clerk of the Legislative Assembly in April 1984, and became a Justice of the Peace in February 1985.
After Delworth passed away, Hurlston said, “coping with grief was a challenge, but Sybil found consolation and relief engaging in helping and supporting others” at the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre and the Legal Befrienders Programme, by providing counselling and by becoming a lay pastor in the United Church. She helped found the Business and Professional Women’s Club, and was a member of the Sunrise Rotary Club until she retired in 2013. She was also a patron of the AIDS Foundation.
She served as the first Caymanian Speaker of the House from 1991 until 1996, and became Cayman’s first living National Hero in 1996.
In November 2016, she received an honorary doctorate from the University College of the Cayman Islands.
Left to mourn her are sons Christopher and Gordon, daughters-in-law Susanne and Heather, brother James and his wife Lisa, granddaughters Natascha and Nikita, and many other relatives and friends throughout the world.
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