The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

TRIBUTES have been paid to former Grand Bahama veteran hotelier Felix A Seymour for his commitment to excellence in the field of tourism.

Mr Seymour, a Cat Island native who resided in Freeport, recently passed away in Grand Bahama. He was 87.

Described as a “consummate hotelier”, he served in the hotel and hospitality industry for 40 years from the 1950s in The Bahamas, managing major hotel properties in New Providence and Grand Bahama.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Tourism, Mr Seymour’s professional career began at the Andros Island Development Company in Fresh Creek. He moved on to the Nassau Beach Hotel, as Personnel Manager, and in 1973, relocated his family from New Providence to Grand Bahama, where he was posted as General Manager at the Lucayan Harbour Inn and Marina, The Port Lucaya Resort and Yacht Club, and as Resident Manager of the 400-room Princess Tower Hotel.

“Always the consummate hotelier, he mentored members of staff numbering in the hundreds over the years,” the ministry statement read. “His inimitable management style reflected a mixture of cutting edge Cornell University hotel management and human resources training, common sense, traditional family values and strict discipline in the workplace. He stood firmly for equal opportunity for Bahamians everywhere.”

Mr Seymour was among the best and brightest Bahamian leaders in the tourism industry on Grand Bahama. “The decade of the 80s were the best years on record for visitor arrivals to Grand Bahama Island, increasing almost three-fold. Tourism sector leaders of the day included the late Sir Albert J Miller KCMG, and colleague hotel managers, Emile Poitier, Tyrone Thurston, Andrew Barnett, Michael Coakley and Donald M. Archer, amongst others,” the ministry said.

Also during that period, the calendar of special events attracted international recognition to Grand Bahama, most notably the ABC Television’s World Superstars, the Princess 10K Run and 5K Run, and the Grand Bahama Vintage Grand Prix. Mr Seymour personally facilitated the staging of a series of fashion shows held at the Princess Tower Hotel between 1978 and 1981 by the world famous Ebony Fashion Fair Models.

“The life of Felix Seymour will serve as a fitting example to many. His commitment to excellence in the field of tourism shall long be remembered,” said the Ministry of Tourism.

Tyrone Sawyer also paid tribute to his uncle. He said that Mr Seymour would have touched the lives of many persons along the way during his lifetime. “Felix Seymour lived a life of purpose. He had a zeal for God. He had a zeal for his fellow man. He made a difference. He helped his family. He helped countless friends. And he helped strangers,” he said.

He praised his demand “for nothing less than excellence from those under his charge” and his trademark was providing a high level of hospitality and service, skillfully delivered.

He described Mr Seymour as a nation builder and hero who arose from a difficult upbringing. When Mr Seymour was born in Knowles, Cat Island, in December, 1928, the fifth - and last - child born to Felix and Lauretta Seymour, life was harsh. His mother died from a ruptured appendix when he was three months old.

He was brought up with three older sisters, Enid, Ruth and Annie Mae, and an older brother, Kenneth, and their love and affection and discipline helped form a stong and close bond following their mother’s death, Mr Sawyer said. Mr Seymour followed this example in the way he related later to his younger sister, Merle and younger brother, Clyde.

Mr Seymour’s father was an itinerant farm worker who worked on The Project in the United States and as a shopkeeper in Nassau. His grandparents, Sam and Matilda Seymour, rooted in him the values of hard work, education, honesty and ambition.

He was a younger teacher at Southern Senior School before starting his career in the hotel trade at the Lighhouse Club in Andros in the 1950s. By then he had married Antoinette (nee Sands) of Rock Sound, Eleuthera.

“Felix freely spoke his mind about things. He was fearless in this regard. He was fully aware that, at times, there was a price to be paid. And he paid it. His major motivation in all his pursuits was to give back the best of himself to his God and to his country,” Mr Sawyer said.

“His family will miss Felix. Cat Island will miss Felix. And the nation will miss Felix Alfonzo Seymour. He was special. He lived a life worthy of commendation and worthy of emulation.”

Mr Seymour leaves two sons, businessman Brian Seymour and CPA Kevin Seymour, chief Financial officer of Pharma Chem Technologies and president of the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce.