Wellesley Howell

Wellesley Howell
Howell on his 105th birthday in 2020.
Birth:	8 January 1915 Chesterfield, St. Mary, Jamaica
Death:	22 July 2021 West Bay, Cayman Islands
Age:	106 years, 200 days
Country:	JAMCAY
Centenarian

Wellesley Howell (7 January 1915 – 22 July 2021) was a Jamaican-born Caymanian centenarian who was the oldest known living person in the Cayman Islands at the time of his death. He is also the oldest known man to ever live in the Cayman Islands.

Biography

Wellesley Howell was born in Chesterfield, St Mary, Jamaica, on 7 January 1915. He first came to Cayman from Jamaica in 1958, at the invitation of bandleader S. E. Nembhard, who had heard of Mr Howell’s prowess on the saxophone back in Jamaica. What started as a six-month gig turned into a lifetime and then some in Grand Cayman, with Mr Howell making a name for himself both as a musician and a shoemaker, designing and making custom shoes and slippers. In his early days he even made boots for police officers and leather straps for the schools. But he was never far from his sax, though his first musical instrument was a bamboo flute he made himself.

In April 1960, he briefly left Cayman Islands and got married to return with his new bride. He was married for 50 years until what his wife died in 2012.

On 7 January 2015, he turned 100. Three years and four days later, on 11 January 2018, he was reported to be the oldest living man in Cayman Islands. He later became the oldest known living person in the Cayman Islands after the decease of Elizabeth Hurlston on 1 September 2019. At the age of 105, while he may have slowed down a bit over the years, he still came to his shoe repair shop on Shedden Road every day, played saxophone when he can, enjoyed a weekly game of dominoes with his friends, and was quick to smile and share a laugh.

Howell died on 22 July 2021 in West Bay, Cayman Islands, at the age of 106 years, 200 days.