Jamaica has been richly blessed with citizens who are fervently patriotic, extremely talented, brilliant in their sphere of endeavour, and, just as important, deeply humanitarian.

Mr Donald George Wehby Jr, the former GraceKennedy Group chief executive officer, who departed this life on Saturday, July 26, 2025, was one such Jamaican.

There are probably very few areas of life in this country that have not been impacted by Mr Wehby and the company he led since 2011 after joining in 1995 as group finance manager. Business, commerce, insurance, agriculture, education, environmental protection, sustainable development, and sports — most notably through sponsorship of the annual Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championship, as well as schoolboy cricket — come easily to mind.

Add to that Mr Wehby’s outstanding contribution to the development of local horse racing for which he had a relentless passion spawned from the legacy inherited from his father, Mr Don Wehby Sr.

But it was in his role as a business leader that Mr Wehby Jr made his greatest impact. Through strong leadership, astute business acumen, and an unwavering commitment to the ideals of his predecessors — Messrs Carlton Alexander, Rafael Diaz, and Douglas Orane — Mr Wehby grew GraceKennedy into a multinational Jamaican company.

We recall that in January this year, when he took the decision to step aside due ill health, the company noted that during his tenure its revenue more than doubled in size, moving from $58 billion in 2011 to $155 billion in 2023.

People who knew Mr Wehby, though, will tell you that that performance was not achieved by strategic thinking and insight only, for he led the company with the highest degree of honesty, integrity, and trust, while earning deep loyalty from his employees who saw him not only as boss but as mentor, counsellor, and advocate.

Those characteristics, we believe, were captured well by Mr Orane who, in a tribute to Mr Wehby after he was vested with the Order of Jamaica — the nation’s fourth-highest honour — last year, said: “Through servant leadership Don has fostered a culture of excellence at GraceKennedy, championing innovation while staying true to the company’s ethos, We Care.”

While we embrace that comment, we must share our admiration for his deep sense of patriotism, particularly his service to Jamaica as a legislator.

Many of us well recall the tremendous personal sacrifice he made in 2007 by accepting then Prime Minister Bruce Golding’s invitation to serve in the Cabinet as minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.

In order to so serve, Mr Wehby resigned his senior executive position at GraceKennedy to remove any appearance of conflict of interest. At the time, he told this newspaper that he was driven to public service to help provide a better Jamaica for his children, plus he needed to do more than just talk.

His outstanding contribution in the legislature, therefore, was no doubt the driving force in Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness recalling him to the Upper House in 2016.

Mr Wehby’s passing has robbed Jamaica of one its most outstanding sons. We extend our condolence to his family, whom he loved and cared for dearly, his friends and colleagues.

But even as we mourn his death, we take comfort in the fact that his life and legacy are captured well in the words of American philosopher and author Mr Alfred Montapert: “The monument of a great man is not of granite or marble or bronze. It consists of his goodness, his deeds, his love, and his compassion.”