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MANDEVILLE, Manchester — The patriarch and co-founder of SuperPlus Food Stores, Vincent George Chen, was on Thursday eulogised as a man of few words with a strong measure of work and worth evident in his legacy through his children.
Chen, the father of SuperPlus Chairman Wayne Chen and husband of the late Hyacinth Gloria Chen, died on August 17 at age 96.
Together the couple raised nine children — NCB Chairman Michael Lee-Chin, Wayne, Charles, Jody, Lisa, Bobby, Collin, Jeremy, and Richard.
“Dad was the product of two people — Edward, the frustrated scholar who came across an ocean from a small village [Ten Sim Wui in China] to start a life in a strange place, and Iris, who came from a small village [Kilmarnock in St Elizabeth], the descendant of rebellious and freed former African slaves. [They] came to Port Antonio,” Wayne Chen told congregants during the thanksgiving service held at Saint Paul of the Cross Cathedral in Mandeville.
He explained that there was strong economic activity in Port Antonio, which pulled many people there to settle.
“Port Antonio was the most prosperous town in Jamaica in the 1910s and the 1920s; it was the birthplace of the global fruit trade. The banana industry was king. People were making fortunes…” he said.
According to Chen, his father was sent to Kingston to learn the Chinese language, but left after two years.
“He felt bullied. He felt targeted and discriminated against. He said there was one particular housekeeper that, if anything went wrong… [said] he must be at the centre of it,” said Wayne Chen.
The elder Chen then went to Titchfield High for two years where he completed school.
“He… never sat the final exams. By the time it came around to pay exam fees [his father] didn’t have any money so fees were never paid, and there ended dad’s formal education,” said Wayne Chen.
From a young age Chen worked in grocery stores at Snowhill, St Margaret’s Bay, and Port Antonio.
While working in Port Antonio he met Hyacinth Gloria and got married. Life then quickly transitioned in what would become the growth and moving of their family and the building of many businesses.
“They started their own dry goods store (named Chen’s) on West Street in Port Antonio. My dad also worked as a projectionist in the Delmar Theatre. He became a salesman at the Singer sewing machine company and travelled all over [Portland],” said Wayne Chen.
In 1967 the family moved to Priory, St Ann, when Chen was promoted as regional manager at the company.
“In 1968 he was again transferred, this time to Mandeville, to be regional manager for the southern region. Mandeville became our home,” said Wayne Chen.
In 1969 Chen left the company and joined his wife at her toy and baby store, Humpty Dumpty, at Manchester Shopping Centre.
“In 1973, amidst the shortages and lack of import licences, they sold the toy and baby business and bought a supermarket in Christiana. In 1978 they sold it and were planning to immigrate to the United States. They stayed home for a year,” said Wayne Chen.
The couple then bought another supermarket in Mandeville, called L & M, at Park Crescent in the town centre.
“I won’t get into the long history of the grocery business,” Wayne Chen said in moving on to speak personally about his father, whom he described as a gentleman who was gracious, quiet, patient, iconic and a man of few words.
“Mom was the more voluble, outgoing partner. More people knew mom. She was the one everybody saw and heard first and most often,” he said, adding that his dad was the ying to his mom’s yang.
“They formed a strong and successful partnership that raised a large family and built a business,” said Wayne Chen.
“He worked very hard at it for decades in the business. Six days a week, very long hours — oftentimes working a second job after the shop had closed to provide for this large and growing family — but he always still found time for the Sunday drives,” said Wayne Chen.
The elder Chen was described as being very artistic.
“Mom used to say if dad had completed his education properly he would have been an engineer, but in hindsight… he may well have been an artist because he had a very natural talent for drawing, and his handwriting was unique and brilliant right up to the end,” said Wayne Chen.
Thursday’s thanksgiving service was attended by hundreds of people, among them business, health, education and civic leaders.
