Wilma Quintyne

Tribute to Wilma Claudell Quintyne

I was introduced to Wilma almost 50 years ago by the Head of the Cable and Wireless Customer Service department as our new maid, after the company relocated to Wildey from St. Lawrence. It was only a matter of days before she settled into the Customer Service department culture. She told us that she would prefer if we called her ‘Dell’ as the only people who knew her first name ‘Wilma’, were members of her family circle. Everybody in the Company knew and referred to her as ‘Dell’ from that day.

Dell was a gem of a maid. There is nothing we asked her to do, including answering the phone and taking messages, that she wouldn’t do, if we were away from our workstation for a short while. She had a beautiful face and a beautiful heart to accompany it. She carried a trademark smile on her face 24/7 which made it difficult to determine if she was unhappy about anything. Dell was a diplomat. Our department offered a 24-hour service in those days. Dell would always call at 7 o’clock on mornings to tell the technician who worked the night duty that she was downstairs and to open the door for her to enter the department. That call also served the purpose of waking up the technician in case he had dozed off. She was a team player and thought that it was part of her duty to keep us out of trouble. Dell had the office spick and span by 8 o’clock to meet the morning staff which could have eaten their breakfast on the floor if they cared to so do.

Our department was always lively with debates on sports and politics. The late Harold Blackman would always call on Dell to settle an argument as she never disagreed with anything he said. That caused great laughter among us as we knew in advance exactly what she would say although they were on opposite sides of the political fence. Her response to Harold was always ‘If you say so, it must be so’ .

It would be remiss of me if I did not mention that she gave motherly advice to staff who in some cases were older than she was e.g. On my last day at work, workmates wished me a happy and long retirement. Dell quietly whispered in my ears ‘ Gill promise me that I would never pass by a rum shop on my way to and from work and see you sitting on a bench with a drink in your hands’. I have kept that promise up to the day she passed away a few days ago. I have lost a true friend. May she rest in peace and rise in glory.

Anthony ‘Vom’ Gill