Parliament pays tribute to late clerk Shirley Lewis
KINGSTON, Jamaica – The House of Representatives yesterday paid tribute to former Clerk to the Houses of Parliament, Shirley Lewis, who died Tuesday night.
Leader of the House, Derrick Smith, recalled her as a “quiet and pleasant person”.“We will miss her, though she has not been (with us) in recent times,” Smith said. He noted that she spent most of her lifetime in the legal system, starting as a member of the court staff, later as crown counsel and eventually as a resident magistrate.He noted that in June1994, she joined Parliament on assignment, and subsequently as Clerk to the Houses of Parliament (House of Representatives and the Senate), where she served until August 2006 and retired from the public service.He noted that she was survived by two daughters – Althea Lewis and Dr Karen Lewis-Bell. Leader of the Opposition, Dr Peter Phillips, recalled working with her in Parliament for a number of years as Leader of the House in the 1990s.“I can say that she was present and instrumental in some of the more far-reaching reforms that took place in the operations of the House during that period,” Dr Phillips stated.He pointed to her involvement in the implementation of the committee system, which saw the introduction of standing committees like those on infrastructure and human resource development that are chaired by Opposition MPs.“She was the clerk during the years when those committees were established. She was also very avid in ensuring that the parliament was represented and active in the Commonwealth Parlimentary Association,” he said.“We are all grateful for her efforts as Clerk of the House in trying to raise the standards of the House,” he said.Minister of National Security, Robert Montague, pointed out that she was engaged in church and community work in her native St Mary, including in her hometown of Islington.He said that she worked voluntarily with the children services and with the introduction of the Ananda Alert system to find missing children.“After a very brief illness, she passed on peacefully at home last night (Tuesday). The parish of St Mary and her extended family are extremely saddened by her passing,” Montague said.Balford Henry
