VETERINARIAN Dr Carl Wells was yesterday remembered as a good father, loving husband and someone who served his country well, by scores of family members and friends who gathered at the Judes Anglican Church in Stony Hill at a thanksgiving service for his life.

Dr Wells, 79, died on November 22 from a heart condition.

He served Jamaica as a professional and as a Justice of the Peace for over 40 years.

“He was such a great friend to all of us…. We had great talks together,” said daughter, Margaret Wells Newnham, who told mourners that her dad possessed “a happy, go lucky jovial spirit”, which was truly admirable.

Added Wells Newnham: “When he became sick, he had a soft gentle spirit, and he was grateful for what we did for him.”

Son James Wells remembered his father as one who inspired him and his siblings to make their lives interestingly fruitful. He said his father also encouraged them to follow their dreams and strive for eternal happiness, not just for themselves but for those around them.

“We are thankful for the long, happy productive life that he lead and also encouraged those around him to lead,” he said. “He taught us valuable lessons such as when in pursuit of a goal, and we experience hardship in life, we should persevere. Never give up. Never give in,” his son said.

Dr Wells, a Jamaica College alumnus, studied veterinary medicine in England at the University of Liverpool in 1945.He returned to Jamaica in 1950 where he started his first professional job as a veterinary officer for the Parish of St Mary.

As his career progressed, he developed a deep interest in the pressing problems of livestock medicine, and in particular the quality of nutrition afforded livestock in Jamaica. He decided to pursue animal nutrition studies in the United States in 1953 and returned to Jamaica in 1954 with a Master’s in Animal Science from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, USA.

He was then awarded a job as head of the Abattoir, in Kingston, and was made a Justice of the Peace for Jamaica. He served in that senior post from 1954 to 1964. He then started work on his Doctorate in Animal science at the University of Minnesota in St Paul, Minnesota, USA. He successfully completed his Doctorate in 1968, and returned to work with the Jamaican Government as an animal nutrition expert with the Bureau of Standards (BSJ) in Kingston.

During his term at BSJ between 1968 to 1977, he oversaw Jamaican Government policy on animal livestock nutrition and quality control of final meat products sold to the general Jamaican public.

He spent his final work years, from 1988 to 2002, at the College of Agriculture in Port Antonio and later at the Veterinary Lab at Hope.

Dr Wells is survived by his wife, Dorothy, his three children James, Mary and Margaret, his brother Gordon, sister Cynthia, and two grandchildren Annalese and Jeremy.