Respected businessman Amine Hanna Juriedini passed away recently and was sent off in a thanksgiving service at the Sts Peter and Paul church in Kingston on New Years Day.

Jureidini was an astute man who was loved by many both in the business community and those who he employed and rubbed shoulders with on a daily basis.

Life Tributes joins with his relatives, friends and colleagues in hailing this icon of Jamaican business.

Rest well, Amine Jureidini!

The following is Gassan Azan’s tribute to Amine Jureidini:

AMINE Hanna Jureidini was born on February 2, 1938 in Choueifat, Lebanon; the second child and first son of Rosetta and Hanna Jureidini. He grew up with his older sister Adma and younger brother Fauzi; the bonds that the siblings had continued until his passing. In the case of Adma he made sure that she was always taken care of while Fauzi spent Sundays with him discussing all manner of things.

A simple man by nature he worked seven days a week to raise his family and gave them many of the opportunities that he did not enjoy growing up.

All his adult life, he worked at Jureidini’s Limited on Spanish Town Road until he subsequently bought the factory in the mid 1970s with the help of a friend. While Amine went about his self-defined role as a provider, he also created a strong bond with his family ensuring that every Saturday he would take them out to dinner and every holiday they would all go somewhere together.

From the moment he landed in Jamaica this place became his home. He represented Jamaica in football and volleyball on an international level. Often times he would say how lucky we were to live in the most beautiful place on earth. This became evident from the wide cross section of friends which he had.

Amine also played a role as patriarch of the Arab community in Jamaica. Although this was not an appointed role it evolved into such over the years as more and more of the community respected his judgement in certain matters and trusted that whatever help they were seeking could be realised by coming to his house and having a chat over a cup of coffee. His home became a place of refuge for all who were visiting whether he knew them or not. I benefited tremendously from these sessions of advice and counselling. He would always say how amazed he was at the size business I had built up and run; yet without knowing it, much of what went into my own business, both directly and indirectly, came from him.

Amine’s real strength came from his wife Leonie with her everlasting love and support he raised three lovely and successful daughters while maintaining the household in a manner where all of his friends felt comfortable. Whether they were gathered for billiards, poker or dominoes, he thoroughly enjoyed his friends and entertaining in his home. Amongst his other pleasures were also bird shooting and drop line fishing where he was fiercely competitive.

Many people who knew him were fearful of him at first; he had a very hard outside shell and there were many stories to corroborate that. Contrary, on the inside he was a soft, gentle, kind- hearted man who held to his own so- called ‘book’ of high principles and he certainly made you aware if you had breached any of them. One only has to remember the way he treated his dogs as if they were his own children and he often referred to them as such. He was a prankster at heart from a young man. There are many stories that could be told of the various pranks which were played on each of his friends, each one getting more elaborate as time went on. One of his most frequent was letting out the dogs to see who would get bitten. I recall a discussion with him when he wanted to sell the factory and retire, this was around 2005. I asked, “What will you do?”, he looked at me and said ” I tried now, I don’t want to do anything.”

As it turned out it gave him time to spend with his granddaughters taking the horseback riding and teaching them how to ride jet skis when in Ocho Rios. I distinctly remember him giving me an analysis of the girls.

When Tyla fell off the horse he came home and told me, “You don’t have to worry about that one, she tough.”

With Laina he noted that she was very patient but had a bad temper which he said was the Azan side. I came home one evening and he said to me, “Maya have a big brain, she con me today; three times she phone me today that she want to take me to lunch.” Finally he agreed but he asked her why and she said “cause you have to pay” to which he responded that she had invited him. Maya replied “but Jido it don’t look good for woman to pay.”

This was the kind of man Amine was simple, straightforward, with no hidden agendas. He will be greatly missed by all. May his soul rest in peace.