Devon Dick

On Father's Day, I was reflecting on my father of blessed and fond memory, the late Willard Sherman Dick, and his influence on my life. One wonders in what ways I am a chip off the old block.

One of the things I recall my father telling me was that he made a conscious decision to stay in Jamaica and play his role in the nurturing of his children. Having served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) in England during World War II, he had the opportunity to migrate to England and make more money, but he chose to stay with family and practise his trade as a shoemaker. He sacrificed financial gain for the cause of family. We were not barrel or parcel children. We would probably have been better off financially if he had gone to England but for him, presence was more valuable than presents.

I knew my father as a protector. He was very good with the gun - skills for which were honed while in England. He was courageous, as soldiers normally are, and no one frightened him. I recall, as a teenager, that some man had threatened to burn down the business place operated by mother. I was scared to death and was even afraid to walk to the post office some miles away.

However, my father reassured me and told me not to worry. In those days, if someone threatened to burn down your house, it meant nothing more than idle talk.

Man of probity

Also, I knew my father as a man of probity. One of his roles in the business was to weigh and wrap salt, flour, sugar, etc. As a man of integrity, he ensured the scales were accurate and a pound of flour would not even be an ounce underweight. It had to be exact. Dad was also a perceptive and practical man. He encouraged us to have the business as the first to be opened and the last to be closed everyday in the district of Airy Castle.

His belief was that customers would remember the convenience of the shop being opened early and would come back to do business again and again. In fact, though he went to church every Sunday and held leadership roles in the church, even on a Sunday, he would open the window and sell goods because he considered the welfare of those who did not have the facilities to store the perishable foods they needed for their breakfast and dinner on Sunday.

My father did not benefit a lot from secondary school education. He spent only one term at St George's College because of lack of finances. However, he was a great reader and excellent thinker. He believed in education. He also believed in home ownership and discouraged the renting of dwelling houses. He never joined a partner, claiming that it was better to put his money in the bank where it would gain interest.

Well prepared

My dad was a local preacher at the Airy Castle Methodist Church. He was not a great speaker, but his sermons were well prepared. He despised long sermons. One of the things I remember vividly about my father was his taking me to visit the old and shut-in members. Those pastoral visits I enjoyed, even though I was still in primary school. I used to enjoy the singing of those hymns and the way in which the people would 'draw' them, that is, singing them slowly.

My father was a Fabian socialist. We were not sure what that meant at the time. However, he claimed that he witnessed that brand of socialism in England and believed that it would be the best system for Jamaica. He was a socialist before it was fashionable in Jamaica. However, my father was not partisan when it came to politics. His children could disagree with his political philosophy at any time, without any repercussions.

I often wonder in what ways it could be said of me, 'like father, like son'.

Rev Devon Dick is pastor of Boulevard Baptist Church and author of 'Rebellion to Riot: the Church in Nation Building'.