It was an overwhelming moment of pride not only for relatives of Captain Keith Parker Tibbetts but those who call Cayman Brac home as the former war veteran and entrepreneur was named a National Hero on Monday.
Tibbetts, who died in 1996, also now holds the special title of being the first National Hero from Cayman Brac, an honour his son Ian Tibbetts says the former seafarer and politician would have gladly held.
“ He would be proud naturally, but I think his thing would be really [that] it’s more about the country, it’s about people, and Cayman Brac and Little Cayman in particular for him, obviously, was his first love,” Tibbetts told the Cayman Compass in an interview on Wednesday.
Captain Tibbetts, who died at the age of 79, officially joined the distinguished list of National Heroes in the Cayman Islands as announced at the annual Heroes Day celebrations on Monday, along with Ernest Craddock Ebanks and Frank Hugh George Scotland, both of whom were also honoured posthumously.
Cayman Islands suffragist Francine Eldona Jackson, 96, was also named a National Hero on Monday. She is Cayman’s only living National Hero.
Always a hero
Captain Tibbetts was a Sister Islands representative, having been appointed in 1947 to the Cayman Islands’ Assembly of Justices and Vestry, which later became the Legislative Assembly. He served for 23 years.
Prior to this, Captain Tibbetts also served his country using his shipbuilding skills, as a seafarer and as a community business leader in Cayman Brac.
“You always hear about ‘jack of all trades and master of none’. I think daddy kind of broke that mould in many ways and that he was the jack of all trades but a master of many, whether it be on the business side, the political side, the seamanship, carpentry, you name it … He was very diverse,” Tibbetts said.
Captain Tibbetts’s bravery while serving in World War II during the evacuation of Dunkirk as well as surviving his ship being torpedoed earned him legendary status on Cayman Brac.
“Daddy has always been our hero obviously, but to have his efforts and his contributions recognised at a national level, it’s incredibly touching and heartwarming,” Tibbetts said.
He recounted the many times his father’s love for his community and his ingenuity made their lives better.
“You always hear about the time of wooden ships and iron men. That’s the time that daddy was part of. Really, there was nothing that they wouldn’t undertake. They were kind of unstoppable for their time,” he said.
He said his father’s upbringing in Cayman Brac shaped his life of service, which was “crystallised” having lived through the devastating 1932 storm.
Over 100 Cayman Brac residents died in that storm. He was so impacted that the experience led him to get more involved in shipbuilding and the family business on the island.
“In the immediate aftermath [of the storm], he built 11 catboats, for example, one of which ended up in [a museum] in London,” he said, adding that his father was only 16 at the time.
Tibbetts recalled that his father set up shop in Watering Place, Cayman Brac, which was an underserved part of the island at the time, and he made it his home.
“Most men were away at sea and he became almost a father figure in the community, but it was throughout his lifetime, the service to country, I think, that made more difference,” Tibbetts said.
He said growing up, he would watch his father stand up for the Sister Islands and that filled him with pride.
Fighter for Cayman Brac
One of the stand-out memories he said was his father’s resistance in the 1970s to the then development plan that was formulated for the Sister Islands without input from residents there.
“ I remember them having a major rally basically in the Brac, [saying] this was not going to be accepted, and I think … the governor then was planning to come over to announce this [plan] and they blocked the runway with all the cars and the animals,” he said.
Residents, led by his father, parked on the runway until they agreed that there was going to be consultation about the plan.
He said the schools had closed and residents stood together on the issue.
Tibbetts said he was moved by the determination displayed that day.
“[It] had an incredible impact on me,” he said, adding that his father was a rebel when he believed in his conviction.
Tibbetts said he would like to see young Caymanians emulate his father’s values.
“ I would sum it up [as] selfless commitment to ensuring our country, our culture are preserved and advanced, but advanced in keeping with the needs and the desires of our people,” he said.
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