The Reverend Richard Fahie, MBE, a retired Anglican Priest, is seen here at the repeat musical performance by the St. Augustine’s Chorale on January 3, 2016. He is accompanied by his son, Economist Mr. Fabian M. Fahie a former official of the Anguilla Public Service; his daughter, Ms. Sandra Fahie, Education Officer, Curriculum Development and Chief Commissioner of Scouts; and one of his grandsons.
The highly-respected and well-beloved Reverend Fahie is a former Head of the Public Works Department, restyled Department of Infrastructure, in the Anguilla Public Service. On retirement, he entered the Supplementary Ministry of the Anglican Church and was trained at Codrington Theological College in Barbados. He served as a Parish Priest in Antigua and his homeland, Anguilla, for a number of years.
During his public service career, this proud Anguillian son served with distinction at the Sombrero Lighthouse Station – Anguilla’s guardian outpost – for international ships passing through the Anegada Passage. Though no doubt an enjoyable assignment at times, it was nevertheless a perilous one – particularly when the remote Sombrero Island was swept over by hurricane-force winds and lashing mounting waves.
The barren cliff, of about 95 acres, some 40 miles off the north-western coast of Anguilla, is home to hundreds of nesting birds, and still serves as a guide to ships. It is however now unmanned, since November 2001, and the lighthouse is operated through an automated system monitored at the Clayton Lloyd International Airport on the Anguilla mainland.
Reverend Fahie occasionally appears at public functions – one usual appearance being the crowd-pulling Welches Fest on Easter Monday when he is often called upon to say the Opening Prayer.
