SCORES of mourners crammed the St Cyprian’s Anglican Church last Saturday to see the man described as the quintessential Jamaican, the greatest egalitarian, a giant, full of love and always ready to give, sent off in style.

Kenneth Roy Antonio “Ken” Haughton, former chairman of the All-Island Jamaica Cane Farmers Association and of the Cocoa Industry Board — who died on May 28, aged 93 — was remembered by son Courtney as a man who was not ordinary.

“We were imbued with a spirit of consciousness, love of service to our fellow man, not by words but by deeds,” he told mourners headed by the governor general’s wife, Lady Allen.

“This was not a normal man. My father was first and foremost a PNP politician who suffered many financial losses as a good PNP man,” he said of the former St Mary Parochial Board representative — now referred to as councillor for the Islington area of the parish — who made history in 1940, at age 21, becoming the youngest member to be elected.

Parochial Boards were changed to parish councils in 1956, with Haughton continuing to serve as councillor for the Islington division.

“He was an exemplar. He had one of the finest minds that I have ever encountered. Every ordinary human being who came in contact with my father was empowered some way, somehow,” the younger Haughton said.

Chairman of the Cane Farmers Association Allan Rickards described the late farmer and fisherman, who boxed briefly under the name ‘Brown Bomber’, as one who “knew no bounds nor containment in terms of crops and the quantities in which those crops grew.

“He was more in the business of growing an organisation that grew cane, than growing cane itself. In this life we always praise those who taste the wine, but not those who paid the bill. Ken Haughton paid the bill,” said Rickards.

Custos of St Mary, AA ‘Bobby’ Pottinger described Haughton’s life as a “blessing”.

“Ken’s integrity was never questioned. He was a noble son of St Mary whose name will never be forgotten,” Pottinger stated.

Catholic deacon and former Member of Parliament Terry Gillette, who had a long association with the outspoken Haughton, confessed to owing much of what he knew in life to the deceased.

“I owe my achievements to Professor Ken Haughton. Here was a man who respected the man in you, and not how old you were.

“He was the greatest egalitarian that I knew and he believed in equal opportunity for all. He was one who was so interested in education for all that he married a teacher,” Gillette said in reference to Haughton’s widow Mistelle.

Rev Patrick Joseph, in his sermon, also spoke highly of Haughton and called on the society to promote justice and love.

“Everybody who I met who knew him spoke of him as a giant of a man who was worth meeting,” Rev Joseph said.

“Justice must be the cornerstone of any society. Without a just society, it is difficult to get righteous people. Any society in which people are hurting and no one cares, the people will react.

“We need to do what we can to have a just place and sometimes it doesn’t take much, as some people need very little, some just need a listening ear.

“Love in our society is a commodity that is short. In our society we love to hate. We need to stop looking for excuses to hate and start looking for opportunities to love,” Rev Joseph said.

The programme also included tributes from former Prime Minister PJ Patterson, Haughton’s widow Mistelle, daughter Antoinette, his two other sons Lennox and Hanif, and daughter-in-law Vonnie.

Haughton was buried in the Old Martin Schoolyard, New Road, at Martin in the parish.