The life and service of the late Reverend Thomas Raphael Lake, MBE, came up for recognition and honour on Wednesday, June 21, when one of Anguilla’s popular central roads was renamed after him.
Originally, called the Mahogany Tree Road, it is a cross road bordering in part the former residence of the deceased and leading to the vicinity of the Clayton Lloyd International Airport.
The ceremony was held on the grounds of St. Mary’s Rectory under the chairmanship of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Infrastructure and Communications, Mr. Karim Hodge. “In my opinion, Rev. Lake is considered to be a founding father of social development in Anguilla,” the PS said. “He willingly and methodically contributed to the soundness of the Anguillian society.” Mr. Hodge thought it was a fitting tribute to have the road renamed after the former social worker and priest.
Minister Curtis Richardson spoke about the high level of commendation he had heard a number of persons paying to Rev. Lake over the years. “I did not know him personally, but a lot of the senior people in the Blowing Point area, who were blessed by his service, had always spoken very highly of him as a disciplinarian and as a person who contributed greatly to Anguilla in terms of the social development of the island,” Mr. Richardson said.
The Government Minister stated that it was fitting to rename the road after Rev. Lake as “it would serve to tell generations to come that we as a nation, and as a Government, have had respect and consideration for people, and value they did for the advancement of our island.”
Lawyer Keithley Lake, son of the late Anglican Priest, spoke on behalf of the family. He traced his father’s upbringing and travels abroad and his eventual return to Anguilla where he became immersed in church and social life, becoming the first Social Welfare Officer in Anguilla and Chief Commissioner of Scouts. He served as a member of the Prison Board. During the Anguilla Revolution he was appointed Magistrate and a Justice of the Peace.
“Upon his retirement from the civil service in 1970, he was awarded the MBE for his contribution and later obtained a hero’s medal for his service to the Anguilla Revolution,” Lawyer Lake stated. “He entered Codrington College in Barbados to pursue studies in Theology and became an ordained Priest in 1977. He served in various postings throughout the Diocese before he returned to Anguilla and served for many years until his retirement in 1998.”
Following the ceremony, Government officials, family members, friends and media representatives walked to the junction of the road, some three yards away, where the sign “The Rev. T. Raphael Lake Road” was unveiled by Lawyer Lake and Minister Curtis Richardson.
