Rest Wid Yuh Jesus Nigel

Like any great Son of de Soil, de Nay-shun continues to salute Nigel Greaves who last Sunday, in his own Calm, Cool and Calculative style, took ah quick and Peaceful exit from “Mother Earth”.

As ole people would say “so he live, so he die!” Vin-sin-shuns from all walks ah life, de Ole, de Young;

de Rich de Poor; Friends and Frenemy, Social Media was hot wid an outpouring of de Love and Respects foh de Beloved Brother who managed ah successful family Business, making one-dah-full contribution to de development of dis Nay-shun.

Nigel, who was born in 1959, was de product of ah Double whammy between his dad, Kenrick “CK” Greaves and his Mom, Leila “Mother Greaves” Kydd. After de couple’s (first) marriage in 1955, “CK” opened his lickle Grocery shop on Bay Street where de company’s Retail Outlet
is presently located, Mother Greaves left her job at United Traders Ltd, joined her husband and completed marriage No 2 of de Double Whammy, she became de Matriarch of CK Greaves & Co.

And where was Nigel in all ah dis development of de Greaves Enterprise?. He obtained ah sound Grammar School Eddy-care-shun and by de time he got his O’levels, de family marched him off to study business at Humber College in Canada, following de footsteps of Debbie, his big sister. After graduating with his business diploma, he stayed on and did a course in refrigeration.

Incidentally, Humber became de stomping ground foh de CK Greaves generation dat includes
Nigel’s siblings and all their children. Like dey found something mighty sweet at Humber where dey all were trained and prepared to tek over business..
But who is dis Nigel? Like his mom, he had ah heart of Gold and we talking ah bit bout de large number of requests for sponsorship in sports, books foh school, bills foh medication and surgery dat he addressed. Big Sister Valerie speaks wid sadness about filling de vacuum left by her milti-talented brother Nigel, he had close to 40 years of practical experience wid de company.

He was technically savvy, ah Jack-of-all-trade, knows de ins and outs of de business. He spoke to technicians with a good understanding of what’s happening in de Cold Room or Bakery, de Distillery or even fixing de family speed boats.

At his desk, he commanded ah controlling view of de entire supermarket floor. Never too busy to talk wid ah dissatisfied customer. My greatest respect foh Nigel was de humane positions he held on “life’n’ death” and “bread’n’butter” matters. When COVID 19 was causing Pan-de- moan-yum in SVG, when ah number of employers were threatening to, and some dismissing workers who refused to tek de jab, Nigel’s position was insisting dat his workers get tested, and wear de mask, no customer will be allowed in de business widout wearing ah mask. Ah questioned him also about de issue where another Supermarket got police assistance in having Vendors plying dey trade in front ah dey Supermarkets removed, and dey stalls smashed. He told dat was ah matter foh Police and de Law.

De I-sin on de cake was when Boney Man, de Young Calypsonian told me he had gotten ah wuk at CK Greaves, ah was lost foh words. As ah student of SMSS and Community College, Boney Man was among de vendors in front ah CK Greaves door, daily assisting his grand-father sell greens and vegetables to help wid his tuition. When he told Valerie and Nigel dat he had graduated, dey immediately invited him to come work in de office inside de Supermarket. Yuh can’t ask foh more love foh young people dan dat. And so we say good-bye to ah Good and
Blessed Man, ah true Nay-shun Builder who will be hard to replace.. De Love Vine pray God’s
Blessings on his dear wife and family. May he find peaceful rest wid Jesus. And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.