As mentioned in this week’s article in The Anguillian entitled: “Hundreds attend viewing and pay tribute to the late Albert Lake, OBE”, many persons delivered tributes to him on Friday evening, December 1, outside his Marketplace.
It was not possible for The Anguillian to publish all the tributes, although the photographs of the majority of persons who gave them appear in the article. Following are some selected tributes, published without editing by The Anguillian, particularly in cases where the scripts were available.
Chief Minister, Mr. Victor Banks:
We are here this evening to celebrate through our many tributes and testimonies the life and service of a national icon and patriot the late Mr. Albert Applebaum Richardson Lake, OBE. Our entire nation mourns the passing of this well loved and admired son of the soil — there is hardly a life associated with Anguilla, as well as the neighbouring islands, that Mr. Lake, or Albert Lake as he was affectionately known, has not touched.
Mr. Lake was a man of great humility and generosity. His life story is one of hard work and a pioneering spirit that has distinguished him as an institution within our community. He was a businessman extraordinaire who achieved his overwhelming success during his own lifetime — building an empire spanning all aspects of commerce and industry.
There was hardly a sector of the economy into which he did not venture. And the stories of his kindness to people of Anguilla from all walks of life are legendary. He was simply put a nice man who was always willing to give back to the community in countless ways.
Mr. Lake was an integral part of our lives; our community; and indeed our national development. Anguilla will never be the same without him! However, his life and legacy will be an important example for all Anguillans — to demonstrate what hard work and an enterprising spirit can achieve.
I have been blessed with seventy-years of life so I have had the privilege to be a witness to every stage of the period during which Mr. Lake rose from a simple butcher selling meat from a tray on his head — to the most successful entrepreneur our island, and perhaps this sub-region, has ever known. And during the process he took the time to help thousands of people and families along the way. There have been and will certainly be many more testimonies by many persons who have been the grateful beneficiaries of his kindness and wise counsel.
He had an instinct/an eye for spotting young people with ambition. And I continue to hear stories from persons who report that Mr. Lake just came up to them and gave them an opportunity to advance themselves either by giving them solid advice or by encouraging them to invest — very often by making a piece of property available to them at a bargain price and on more than one occasion free of cost for as long as the recipient continued to demonstrate the readiness to achieve.
Mr. Lake was particularly, generous to persons who did not have any property of their own — he had a deliberate program designed to assist such persons once they showed a keen interest as he would say: “doing something to help themselves”. The testimonies to these acts of kindness are many — I am sure that many of you are in this respectful gathering to bear witness to this.
Despite his tremendous achievements as an entrepreneur — Mr. Lake never “showed off”. You could not tell whether he was the employee or the owner — he carried himself in the most humble manner. No airs! No pretences! He was just Lake — an ordinary Anguillian who never forgot where he came from.
As his neighbour for a significant part of my adolescent years Mr. Lake was like an uncle to me. In fact for many years I actually thought he was my uncle especially since his father “Bertie Lake was married to my aunt Maude Lake”. So I had the same regard for him as I had for my older cousins, his sisters, who I also called Aunt. Many of you would remember the late Auntie Chrissie — who was actually not my aunt but my first cousin. Similarly, Aunt Drucie , Drucilla Lake, my other cousin, also his sister (now living in the United States) who made ninety –four just a month ago.
Though not her biological child my late aunt Maude Lake thought the world of Albert Lake and in fact regarded him as her son and as I can recall he visited her almost everyday especially after he got his first motor vehicle. That was especially the case after my father died.
And since I am on the subject of my father who passed in 1965. He predicted over almost sixty years ago that Albert Lake would be the number one businessman on the island. My father made that prediction during the time when for those of you who are older the Factory and the Anguillian general stores were in their heyday. My Father thought very highly of Albert Lake as well.
I never went to Mr. Lake’s small corner shop as a youngster running errands for my parents — without receiving a handful of toffees or mixed sweeties. You can well imagine that I never passed up those chores or opportunities.
When I used to return home from my studies abroad during the early seventies, my mother would always ask me: “Did you go to see Mr. Lake — he is always inquiring about you.” (And as many of you know may recall my mother used to go to the supermarket every day). I never left any of those visits to Mr. Lake without some token of his generosity. And just for the record — not toffees or sweeties!
There will always be naysayers and ingrates. I sure that you know that there are many persons who question how Mr. Lake acquired his vast estate — all the while offering up the most unkind reasons. So I feel obliged, in fact, duty-bound to make this comment here this evening.
I know of so many times when people chased after Mr. Lake to sell him their property to help some of the very persons who may now speak disparagingly about his memory. I would venture to suggest that the majority of Mr. Lake’s property acquisitions were transacted reluctantly — simply to help persons.
I must also say that based my over thirty years experience in Government — Mr. Lake has never turn down a request from Government to acquire any portion of his property for the public good. I can further affirm that on many such occasions he donated such property free of charge — or for a minor consideration.
It is ironic that this year, the 50th Anniversary of the Anguilla Revolution, we are putting to rest two of the most iconic patriots in our island’s history. First, the late Honouraable James Ronald Webster, the Father of the Nation and now the late Albert Applebaum Richardson Lake OBE, the Father of Anguillian Commerce and Industry!
Despite the widely known and well-documented differences between Mr. Lake and Mr. Webster during the revolutionary period — both men enjoyed a relationship built on mutual respect and frankness. And it is indisputable that the Anguilla Revolution could not have survived without the stability in the business sector led by Mr. Lake. Mr. Lake never abandoned Anguilla and his people during that uncertain period of the struggle for self-determination. In fact, his life’s journey and contribution to building modern Anguilla is a manifestation of that struggle.
I thank his dear wife Octavia and his family for supporting Mr. Lake throughout his service to our island and especially in the waning days; weeks; and months of his earthly sojourn when he needed your Love; care; and attention.
As a grateful people we thank God for his life and service and pray that the family will keep his memory and his contribution to our island alive in our hearts for time immemorial.
May the God who is our strength in times of loss and suffering be so with his wife his family; relatives and friends in the trying days; weeks; months; and years ahead.
Let us pray as a nation that the soul of this fallen patriot rests with his maker in eternal peace!
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Former Chief Minister, Mr. Hubert Hughes:
“First of all, let me offer my condolences to Mr. Lake’s great Octavia and his children and then let me say that Albert Lake was the greatest Anguillian to ever walk this island. He was a Christian, an economist; industrious an innovator, a planter and national her. He actually was a nation-builder.
“I always said that Albert Lake is the greatest political leader, the greatest Chief Minister Anguilla has ever had. Many a time I said to him: I would hand over to you sir because I think that you are the only person who can run this island successfully. But he was too modest an individual to take on that role.
“We have come here to offer our respects for the life of this great man and for his legacy I would think that the best we can offer is to ensure that Albert’s World prospers and that could only happen with our support. I know each of Albert’s children individually and some of him has rubbed off in all of them and all those great qualities you all heard tonight, it is important that we keep Albert’s World alive.”
Mr. Hughes continued: “Mr. Lake is gone. He can’t hear us anymore. You can think of his legacy and what he has fought for; what he has developed and left behind for us to benefit from. This is why I am saying to you: don’t take this lightly. Let’s keep Albert’s World alive.”
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Mr. Carl Harrigan (on behalf of NCBA):
“On behalf of the Board of Directors and Staff of the National Commercial Bank of Anguilla (NCBA) I extend sincerest condolences to the family, friends, employees, acquaintances and all who mourn the loss of Albert Lake O.B.E.
“Those of us who were privileged enough to have had conversations with Mr. Lake would have undoubtedly benefited from his wisdom and to those who were not so privileged, I am sure that upon hearing of Mr. Lake and what he stood for is enough to digest and aspire them to greatness while remaining humble like Mr. Lake.
“As we are all aware, Mr. Lake has been a distinguished pillar of the Anguillian community for many years. His impact in Anguilla spanned many spheres – economic, financial, social, cultural, and I dare say even religious. We look around and see his contributions to the development of Anguilla though his various ventures, such as the quarry in Shoal Bay, the hardware, the haberdashery and the supermarket here behind us. However, Mr. Lake’s legacy runs significantly deeper than these establishments. Mr. Lake has and will always be known as the man who provided for far too many Anguillians to count, with the opportunity to own their own land, homes and even businesses as he would have done for himself over the years.
“He believed in Anguilla and embodied what it meant to be a true Anguillian – resilient, hardworking, fierce, yet humble. Mr. Lake was passionate about building up our people and our great island, Anguilla, and in his living years just as he supported our people, various charitable foundations and the island on a whole, he supported bans tremendously. As a result of this support, the banks were then able to contribute to the overall development of Anguilla. We appreciated his support of NCBA and through this medium convey our sincere gratitude to his family for their continued support.
“Mr. Lake’s passing is felt by the whole island and his legacy is one that will forever live on.”
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Mr. Shamoi Ruan (on behalf of FCIB):
“I bring you greetings on behalf of the Management and Staff of FirstCaribbean International Bank, and extend sincerest condolences to the Lake family on the loss of their patriarch, Mr. Albert Lake.
“With Mr. Lake’s passing, we have lost a friend and someone who could be described as the epitome of client loyalty.
“Mr. Lake’s relationship with our bank stretches back to 1961 when from humble beginnings he established his business and opened an account with one of our predecessor banks – Barclays.
“In those days, you will remember, Anguilla was a part of the Federation of St. Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla, and the business was managed from St. Kitts. But I bet you didn’t know that Mr. Lake’s business was single-handedly responsible for the bank establishing a branch here on Anguilla, so we have him to thank for that.
“Throughout out the years, even as he business grew, and even as our own business went through changes, Mr. Lake remained steadfastly loyal to Barclays and finally to CIBC FirstCaribbean. He described any contemplation of moving his business elsewhere as “traitorous” and over the years our relationship flourished, with Mr. Lake staunchly maintaining us as primary bankers, with a loyalty that is rarely seen in the business world today.
“We have watched his business grow just as we have watched his children grow to adulthood and take over several aspects of his business.
“A shrewd businessman, he always kept abreast of developments in the business community both at home in Anguilla and internationally and though he never pursued education at tertiary level, his keen eye, his masterful business acumen and his outstanding intelligence, led him to know just when to take advantage of the right conditions – and this helped build his business into what it is today.
“He took pride in doing things the right way and he took pride in helping others. Many an Anguillian can attest to some form of help which Mr. Lake would have provided. His contributions to Anguilla itself are unmatched, and he played a major role in the development of the island by providing access roads through his land to the government, and supplied land to various homeowners at reasonable prices.
“In 2001, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his remarkable contribution to the country, and his entrepreneurial spirit, something of which he and his family were very proud.
“We will miss Mr. Lake, for even though he was no longer active in the business as he was in the past, he remained a dear friend.
“To his family, we say thank you for sharing this wonderful human being with so many. He will be remembered for a very long time.
“Once again we offer our sincerest condolences to you.
“May his soul rest in peace and his spirit soar with the angels!”
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Mrs. Lorna Kentish-Rogers (on behalf of the Lake’s family of Tanglewood) :
“Let me extend condolences to Mrs. Lake and the rest of the family of the Tanglewood family.
“This tribute will be short and cannot adequately pay homage to the life of such a son of our soil. I refer to Mr. Albert Lake as “Lake”, certainly not disrespectfully, but because this was how he was affectionately addressed.
“Lake was Anguilla’s pioneering maverick. He was the cornerstone of entrepreneurship on Anguilla and the barometer of the changing seasons of Anguilla’s culture, its social values and its economy highs and lows.
“He prophesied on the deep and destructive impacts of many of these changes on our island’s landscape.
“Lake was a giant of a man in many respects. There are not many Anguillians, certainly not of my age and older, whose paths have not crossed with Lake’s in some meaningful way.
“Anguilla is proud to have had such a son. We celebrate his life’s achievements, his community spirit and his joy of a life well and fully lived.
“The mark that he has made on this little Island of ours will remain for many generations to come if not into perpetuity.”
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Mr. Quincy Gumbs (on behalf of Fair Play Group of Companies)
“I have often said that I feared for an Anguilla without Albert Lake as much as that day had to come. Anguilla, without Albert Lake, means an Anguilla that has lost its indigenous entrepreneurial ambition, where visions dreams and aspirations will cease to become realities. A country where hard work and taking risk would become forgotten relics of the past. A country that has lost its conscience, its feeling , its honesty to self and others, its commitment to the poor and vulnerable and its ability to motivate, inspire and take pride in the success of young people whether local or foreign. A country that has lost its attachment to the land, and a commitment to cultivate it ,restore its hills and valleys, extract its resources in an environmentally friendly way, maintain its sheep, goats and cattle for the good of all.
“Land will not be made available to the landless at an affordable price, and on manageable terms, but most of all kept for perpetuity and passed on to the next generation in a better condition than how he met it.
“Lake once told me that everywhere he had land, he allowed the government to use what they want for public use, mostly without compensation, that too has died. He held no punches, he always told you exactly how he thought about you whether you liked it or not, he did not curse you because he hated you but because he always felt you had the ability to be better by his standards. Privately, you got his political view, publicly, he was political and offended no-one by his politics. Mr. Lake was not perfect or ever purported to be a God, but he embodied everything that was good about Anguilla.
Tonight, this whole nation mourns your loss, and is poorer by your passing. May your soul rest in eternal peace.”
