Barbados’ Consul-General in Miami, Colin Mayers, has died in Florida.
His sudden passing was confirmed by relatives in Brooklyn and by the Barbados Consulate-General in New York.
Mayers, an aircraft pilot by profession was a keen cricketer who played for the Lodge School more than half century ago. He became Barbados’ Consul-General in 2008 shortly after the Democratic Labor Party’s election victory and served until his death. He had previously headed the office in 1994.
The Consulate-General in Florida’s largest city is responsible consular affairs in several states in America’s south, ranging from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina to Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky and Texas.
His unexpected death came shortly after he was made Dean of the international consular corps in Miami, succeeding Kent Hippolyta, St Lucia’s Consul-General in Florida, the home of Barbados’ second largest concentration of nationals in the US after New York.
“Colin was a highly respected, committed and popular representative of our country,” said Dr Donna Hunte-Cox, Barbados’ Consul-General in New York. “He loved his job, enjoyed what he did, and made his presence felt in a very positive way. He was a successful consul-general.
“He is perhaps the first consul-general and head of a Barbados mission to die in office. He was always willing to help and work alongside his colleagues. On behalf of the consul-general, the Barbadian community and my own family I wish to extend my deepest sympathy to the Mayers family.”
Evelyn Greaves, a former cabinet minister in Barbados who later became the country’s top diplomat in Canada, said in a tribute to Mayers “Fran, my wife, and I regret the sudden passing of Colin Mayers who was a stalwart in the Barbadian community here in Florida.
He was a most helpful, empathetic and devoted person in the execution of his duty as Consul-General. I had the distinction of working with him in the publication of the book celebrating Barbadians in the United States of America. This was one of his signature legacies. His wife and family will no doubt greatly miss a gentleman, father and husband.”
Sir Henry Fraser, a retired professor of the University of the West Indies, agreed with Greaves, describing Mayers as an “energetic consul general” who was “very supportive of my work in promoting the historical connection and tourist potential of the Barbados Carolina settlement connection and of our honorary consul, my friend Rhoda Green in Charleston.” (TB)
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