Vincent O’Neil Rogers, known to most of us as Neil, smiled at the world on 21 February, 1935.  He gave thanks and lived with it for seventy-four (74) fruitful years and on 8 November, 2009 he again smiled at it, and succumbed to that great equalizer.  Born to Charles and Catherine Rogers at Backway, Sandy Point, the fourth of eight children.

Neil came from a simple and humble beginning at a time when it was socially acceptable to be poor and illiterate, but he challenged tradition and so poverty and illiteracy soon become footnotes in history.  Like all poor youngsters of his day, whose parents could ill afford proper maintenance and sound education, Neil attended the Sandy Point Boys School where he attained the usual school leaving certificate.  With strident steps after leaving school Neil strode the world with great panaché and left a legacy as - Salesman, Manager and owner of the Singer Company, Family man and Friend. 

Education

Neil was a brain picker.  Spanning the length and breath of his illustrious career he never stopped learning.  He was a veracious reader.  He, like many of us as youngsters, listened to B.B.C. and inculcated certain phrases in our speech.  Neil would say “Boy dem is words”, “weigh every syllable”.

He was a disciple of the famous intellectual Sandy Pointer, Allan Somersall, Sr.  When ‘Time’ and ‘Newsweek’ were rarity in St Kitts, he received them and shared them with me on a weekly basis.  Single mindedly and single handedly he pursued City and Guilds certificates.  The numerous business and professional certificates he acquired is testimony to his insatiable thirst and hunger for knowledge.  When he attained his certificate in legal studies he became the ‘Learned Tamarind Tree Judge’.  He would often say to me, “Boy Asyll a could a been a Malcolm Butt or a Dudley Thompson - look a me trouble ya”.  Up until when he returned home for a brief stint Neil was picking my brains.

Employment and Business

Neil’s first stint at employment was an apprentice in Allan Somersall’s joiner shop.  (give the story of Neil and Allan in the joiner shop).  Allen however used his influence and secured a place for Neil in the Civil Service where he moved from mailman to Court Crier and Bailiff.

The drudgery and often dead end jobs in the Civil Service was not his forté, and soon entered the challenging and tumultuous world of the private sector and worked for the Singer Company as salesman.  There was no wage, and was paid only when he sold merchandise.  He not only sold but became the repairman for singer machines.  Neil was in his element as a salesman.  The passion he brought to it was equaled only to the love of the chase.  He knew every nook and cranny of St Kitts.  On Sunday afternoons he would pick me up and together we would traverse the country side collecting money for merchandise credited, and it was fascinating to see Neil weave himself into the confidence of people.  Many times we sat on a stone out in the yard under a tree to transact business.

 Discipline and diligence soon earned him the position of manager of Singer.  The decision to purchase the singer franchise was arduous.  He pondered long and hard.  The purchase of singer revealed another side of Neil, as it gave him serious insight into the human psyche.  It enriched his life.  He was the consummate entrepreneur.

Family

Neil’s swashbuckling days of bachelorhood came to a screeching halt in 1975 when he was smitten, hog tied and lassoed and married Jovil Wilkin Thomas.  This union produced four (4) offspring – Ryan, Delonne, Kaldeen and Philbert.  Neil was also the father of Rawle, who was his first child.

In an age when the husband was the tough breadwinner and the wife was relegated to the unpretentious position of housewife, Neil again defied tradition.  Jovil became his business partner.

He fathered and mothered his children.  He was the strict disciplinarian.  He taught them the ways of life, but most importantly they were weaned in the church.  His commitment and devotion to his family was boundless and going home after work was a joy.

This love for family and siblings was as a result of Neil having to mother his younger siblings after his mother passed away when he was nine (9) years.  His living siblings are Leslie, Cedric, Ivan, Wendell, Norris and Avis.

Extra Curricular

Most people identified Neil either as the Singer Man or as a member of Rotary Club of St Kitts.  But he gave community service and was involved in several organizations.  He co-founded the Sandy Point Self Help Group; was Senator and President of Jaycees; Board Member and Vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for three (3) years; Past President and Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary St Kitts.

He took on mentoring young people as a Rotarian and they all benefited from his life’s experiences.  He instilled in his employees the need for discipline, training and organization.  You were not his friend if you were unambitious and lazy.  The child in Neil came out as he enjoyed kite flying.  Cricket to him was serious business, but his greatest hobby was “driving west”, which meant going home to Sandy Point.

It would be remiss of me if I were not to mention his love for St Kitts in general and Sandy Point in particular.  He loved St Kitts dearly and exhorted Kittitians in the Diaspora to return home if only for a visit.  He would say, “the hills are greener, the water is the best and the people are still smiling”.  But Sandy Point was special to him as it is to every Sandy Pointer.  He believed that we were given something special from God.  We can succeed at anything.  We are thinkers and doers.  We are the brightest, the most conceited, the most show-off people, and the most productive.  Neil was testimony to these Sandy Point qualities.

We would reminisce about his Sandy Point Community of Elders and mentors.  Amongst others, the shrewd business woman, Mary McIntosh; the indomitable School Master, John Edgar Hanley; the intellectual, Allan Somersall, Sr.; the Fearless Sandy Pointer, Joseph Benjamin; and that vintage politician, Gunton Lewis.

Personal Friendship

Neil addressed me in three (3) different ways:

1.         Halla – this was serious business;

2.         Brods – when we discussed mundane topics; and

3.         How water a bruck – when we would discuss from the ridiculous to the sublime.

When he contemplated marriage he called me – Halla, and gave me the riddle of taking a swim in deep waters.  When he purchased Singer he again called me – Halla, and gave the riddle of taking a dive; and on dying he called me – Halla and said: “It is good to be good”.

He lived by life’s philosophy

All is possible through planning, determination, hard work and sacrifice.  Always give of your best.  Be an eternal optimist.  Inspire others, seek knowledge.  Always give thanks.

“In order to learn pretend you don’t know”

Finally, being steadfast friends for approximately forty-five (45) plus years I can truly say that the following are some of the things he asked for in life:

1)         wisdom to know right from wrong and the courage to act on them;

2)         Generosity of spirit so that he may manifest the character of the God who loved him and who died for him;

3)         A gentle tongue;

4)         Faith, when the news is frightening, that God really is in charge and that good really will triumph in the end;

5)         Work that contributes to the well-being of others, and the ability to do it well;

6)         The ability to remember what needs remembering and forget what is best forgotten; and

7)         A Holy Death.

May God grant him a Holy rising in eternal glory.