Former parliamentarian, longstanding social activist and Pan Africanist, Glenroy Straughn, is dead.
Straughn, who turned 86 on February 12, died this morning after ailing for several years as a result of Alzheimer’s, which caused him to be institutionalized.
He sat in the House as a Barbados Labour Party representative for St Joseph from 1958 to 1961 after winning a by-election when Sir Grantley Adams became federal prime minister.
Straughn was also a former chairman of the Transport Board, and held leadership roles in the Bussa Foundation, the National Council on Substance Abuse and the Barbados Road Safety Association. As an educator, he taught in Aruba where he helped in oragnizing Caribbean workers in the oil industry, and later taught at Combermere School.
In 2008, Straughn and his wife Ada were honoured by the Clement Payne Foundation for their outstanding service to the people of the Caribbean and Barbados
Straughn also contested the St James South seat as an Independent in 1961, then in 1966 for the People’s Progressive Movement (PPM), and again in 1994 as an Independent.
He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Ada, who is a retired principal of Alexandra School, and their three sons, David, William and Stephen. (RJ)
