Dr. Doris Channer Watson received the Order of Distinction, Officer Class, for service in the fields of medicine and community development.

"My mother Certina Channer was the one most influential person in my life. She was a housewife who did everything she could to make two ends meet for her family of six children in Kencot, Kingston. I admired her caring attitude for herself, the family, extended family and community.

"She was there for anyone who had a problem. She was not a nurse but, for health, mental problems, for family problems; she was like a repository of answers. She paid attention to detail, especially to the education of children. She was a disciplinarian but played with us. She loved you and laughed with you. She wanted you to do the best.

"The extent to which she went to make sure that we went high school was also remarkable. My sister went to St. Hugh's High School in 1932. At that time only the children of professionals went to school at this level.

"My mother was an individual who could touch kings and deal with paupers. My older sister too was my mentor. Sylvia, now deceased, was always encouraging us to go further. At university, I would not have made it without her.

"My mother also taught us that no matter what the difficulty was, you could overcome if you have God as your centre. Put that before you and any problem would be solved. My father, a contractor, was a person of strong character, even though mother was in the forefront. He was beside her. I remember sitting on his lap while he told us stories. The love we had as children really was the platform from which we grew."

Dr. Mavis Gilmour-Petersen received the Order of Distinction, Commander Class, for her work in the field of medicine and politics.

"The individual who inspired me the most was my primary school teacher, Beatrice Carnegie. She was disciplined and a perfectionist. She was devoted to the task she had undertaken. She was a pioneer in her time because I am talking about back in the 1930s. She was a woman and the principal of a school ­ Happy Grove Primary School in St. Elizabeth.

"She inspired us by setting good example and good standards for us. She inspired me to strive for excellence and to do the best I can under every circumstance."

Dr. Erna May Brodber received the Order of Distinction, Commander Class, for her contribution in the fields of history, literature and community development.

"The person who inspired me most was my father Ernest Brodber. My father was a very amusing person. He was also very artistic. He wrote and directed plays although he was a farmer. He owned a set of the complete works of Shakespeare. "In Woodside, St. Mary where we lived there were debating societies and social activism.

He was involved in all of this. He was extremely political.

"He really believed that through political agitation the colonial peoples would find their way into a new part of the society. I have picked up politics and drama from him. He was also passionate about history and he wanted one of his children to write history that black people could read. He died in 1989, unfortunately as it was the year when my second novel won an award. I knew I was doing it for him. We were very close because very early in my life my mother had to go out to teach in a far away places. He was the one at home. He was the adult whom I knew."

Mrs. Audrey Anderson was awarded the Order Of Distinction, Commander Class, for her outstanding contribution in the field of financial services regulation.

"The person who inspired me most was my mother -- Gilda Elizabeth Hanson, now deceased. She was somebody who had tremendous faith in her children and who brought us up to have very strong values and a very strong belief in God. That was really her legacy. She had a strong faith in our abilities to do what we put our minds to. She put a lot of store in sound education. She always told us that while daddy and herself were not able to give a lot of material things, the education would be enough of a foundation. The fact that neither mother or father were there to see me receive this honour was one of the things I regret the most. They would have taken so much pride in it."

"My father, Arnold Reginald Hanson worked in commerce with several pharmaceutical companies. As bread-winner, he took that role so seriously. When I first went to UWI he was so absolutely proud. That was one of the main forces that ensured that I did well and did not disappoint him.

John Holt was awarded the Order of Distinction, Commander Class in the rank of officer for his contribution to Jamaican music at home and abroad.

"I can remember my mother, Amy Holt, a nurse, saying to me at age nine, said Winston, ( my birth name), you can sing you know, she usually encouraged me to go places where music is being played and to study and not hang on the corners.

At school there was a little guy Victor Grant from Greenwich Town who encouraged me too. There is also God. My talent is from God who just grows bigger and bigger."

Ryan Peralto was awarded the Order of Distinction, Commander Class for over 20 years of service in the Legislature and the Electoral Advisory Committee (EAC).

"Certainly my mother Muriel Saunders-Peralto and grandfather Ernest Percival Saunders and a man by the name of Father Bill Hannas of St. George's College,

"Father Hannas was a Jesuit priest and I was one of the smallest boys in his school. There was a habit of the older boys to bomb (torment) the smaller boys. Father Hannas took me aside and said, "you have to learn to defend yourself, meet me behind the school and I will teach you boxing." He taught me to defend myself. "My grandfather, Ernest Saunders gave me an adage to live by. He said everything on this earth was put for a purpose and man was put here to help his fellow man to live a better quality of life. Even the animals are here to serve man. We eat their flesh and therefore you must always give back to your community all that you can.