Derek Brian Wight was an entrepreneur, sports icon and devout Christian. His footprints can be seen throughout Grand Cayman, in the form of his businesses, the Smith Road cricket Oval and St. Ignatius Catholic School. He died 26 November, 2011, at the age of 79.
Although he was an influential man in the Cayman Islands, Mr. Wight’s legacy is the family he left behind – his wife Marguerite, 10 children, 20 grandchildren and a growing number of great grandchildren – as well as the many acquaintances who became his friends and to whom he was a mentor.
Family
“He always insisted on having a Sunday lunch with the family. Most of us would be there every Sunday,” eldest son Brian Wight said. “He cooked the meat part of the meal. He took great joy in preparing it overnight and cooking it.”
Mr. Wight was born 26 August 1932 in British Guiana, the third of nine children. He attended school in England and joined Barclays Bank in Guiana. He came to Cayman in 1955, met future wife Marguerite nee McTaggart, and married her in Jamaica in 1956. Several years later, Dr. Roy McTaggart asked Mr. Wight to return to Cayman to help with the family business, a George Town general store. He returned to Cayman in 1961, growing the McTaggart store into a variety of businesses, including By-Rite Supermarket, Bata Shoe Store, Tom-Sun Garage, McTaggarts Appliance and Paint Store, Treasure Cove Duty Free and Walkers Road Texaco. He helped found Cayman National Bank, Jacques Scott, Cayman Distributors and the Chamber of Commerce.
Then-Minister of Cabinet Linford Pierson recommended Mr. Wight to become Chairman of the Water Authority in 1989. Among the Water Authority’s accomplishments during Mr. Wight’s tenure was the introduction of running water to Cayman Brac in 1991.
“I have found him as an acquaintance, friend and colleague to be a very reliable individual of very high honour and integrity. Above all, I will remember Mr. Wight as being a very dependable person,” Mr. Pierson said.
Brainard Watler was head of the Water Authority during Mr. Wight’s chairmanship, and he attended school with Mrs. Wight. “It’s been a long, long, happy and good association that I’ve had with both him and Marguerite and his children,” he said. “I have found them to be wonderful children, so very well-respectful and mannered. Coming from the household they came from, that’s exactly what you’d expect and exactly what you’d get.”
Sports
The Wights were a prominent family in Guiana, particularly known for cricket. His father, uncles and cousins played for teams representing places like Guiana, West Indies and England. Mr. Wight himself did not become seriously involved with the sport until he was in Cayman. He started the By-Rite cricket club, and paid to import clay from Jamaica for the Smith Road cricket Oval surface.
Clive Musson met Mr. Wight through cricket when they both worked for Barclays in Jamaica. He obtained the clay for Mr. Wight and had it shipped to Cayman via one of the Foster family’s ships. Mr. Musson went to work for Mr. Wight in Cayman in 1975.
“He was first of all a gentleman. He was an extremely strong family man and exceptionally generous. He was very easy to meet, although he was extremely shy. He never liked to be in the limelight of things,” he said.
“We regard him as one of the icons for cricket development in the Cayman Islands,” said Cayman Islands Cricket Association President Courtney Myles, who worked as a bagboy at Mr. Wight’s supermarket and played for the By-Rite cricket club.
“The Cayman Islands Cricket Association takes off their hat to the contributions that Mr. Wight has made toward cricket developing in the Cayman Islands. Today that man is missed in the cricket fraternity,” he said.
In 2009, Mr. Wight earned an International Cricket Council Centenary Medal for his contributions to the sport.
Peter Burke worked and played cricket for Mr. Wight, whom he described as his father, brother, mentor and guardian. “He was one of the best human beings I ever met in my whole life, next to Christ,” Mr. Burke said.
In addition to cricket, Mr. Wight was involved in football and other sports, too.
Renard Moxam played for the By-Rite Stars football club, managed by Mr. Wight. “He was a good man and a good influence in my life. I’ll always appreciate and be grateful for the time I shared with him,” Mr. Moxam said.
He said Mr. Wight was a positive influence on many others in his generation.
“Nobody can imagine how much he has done for Cayman Islands cricket and Cayman Islands life in general, if you expected to hear it coming out of his mouth,” said Theo Cuffy, Cayman’s technical director of cricket. “Those of us who are aware of it are fully cognisant of the fact that he was a great contributor to our way of life.”
Mr. Wight was also a founding member of the Cayman Tennis Club Team.
Cayman Islands Justice Charles Quin met Mr. Wight through tennis and cricket. “He was a wonderful, old-fashioned Caribbean gentleman who had a genuine interest in people and in particular young people. I always enjoyed our time together,” Mr. Quin said.
Church
Mr. Wight and his wife Marguerite attended Catholic mass every day. He helped fund Our Lady of Perpetual Help Preparatory School, now St. Ignatius Catholic School.
Parishioner Adriannie Webb said Mr. Wight was “a pillar of the Christian community” – and that Mrs. Wight was always at her husband’s side when it came to participating in the Church.
“Derek was a man of faith, and he tried to live it the best way he could. He tried to live his life in a very Christian manner and to be faithful to the teachings of the Church,” Parishioner Angela Miller said. “I believe that as far as his family is concerned, his legacy is really the faith, his faith that he has been able to pass on to his children.”
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