Born
at Savanna La Mar, Westmoreland, in 1937, Dudley Clifford Stokes was the son of
Victor and Doris Stokes. His early education was at Knockalva Practical
Training Centre (KPTC), which was established in 1940 at Ramble in eastern Hanover.
In 1962, the institution changed focus to become an agricultural training
centre. Jamaicans credit KPYC with producing some of Jamaica’s finest
agriculturists, businessmen in agro-industry and outstanding agricultural
entrepreneurs and specialists in the field of agricultural education.
Stokes’ decision to offer his gifts in the Christian ministry led him to enrol at Calabar Theological College. In later years, he pursued graduate theological study at the Wake Forrest University Divinity School in North Carolina, from which he graduated in 1972.
Ten years earlier, in August 1962, East Queen Street Baptist Church was the venue where Stokes was joined in marriage to Blossom O’Meally Nelson, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. Jose Nelson of St. Andrew. Officiating minister was Rev. Horace Russell, assisted by Rev. Stephen James. The ushers were four notable Baptists – Messrs. Ken Christian, Roderick James, Gerald Gallimore and Barry Wade. A gifted visionary and administrator, Blossom Stokes went on to make a significant contribution in several spheres of national development in Jamaica.
A few months after the Stokes’ wedding, the couple were off to Turks and Caicos Islands as missionaries from the Jamaica Baptist Missionary Society. Mr Stokes had oversight over the Baptist church at Grand Turk. He also had responsibility as Superintendent of thirteen Baptist churches in the Bahamas.
In the 1960s, while in Turks and Caicos, Stokes was appointed Chairman of the Turks and Caicos Church World Service Committee that oversaw the operation of an important food distribution centre for the benefit of the people of the country.
After completing his tenure in Turks and Caicos, Stokes returned to Jamaica where he commenced service as pastor of the Port Maria circuit in 1967. He spent seven years in the circuit.
In 1977, after his studies at Wake Forest University, Stokes was chosen as Principal of Cornwall College in Montego Bay. His appointment was based on the School Board’s concern to change the situation at the institution that was going through difficulties that caused a lowering of morale and a fall in standards. Stokes led the institution for almost seven years. While he was at Cornwall College, he was also President of the Inter-Secondary School Sports Association and President of the Caribbean Association of Principals of Secondary Schools. He was active in community life in Montego Bay and was also Moderator of Sandy Bay Circuit of Baptist churches.
After accomplishing the mission for which Cornwall College had hired him, Stokes in 1984, left the College to take up a new post as Chief Administrator of Bel Air School in Mandeville, Manchester. This school had been established in the 1950s to help meet the educational needs of the children of employees of the bauxite company Alcan and later, in the 1960s, of Alpart, another bauxite company that had started operations in the area. Stokes was the first Jamaican head of the educational complex that formed students in three departments, viz., Kindergarten, Preparatory and High School.
Cornwall and Bel Air represent only two of the institutions whose educational work benefited from Stokes’ contribution. Boys’ Town, St Mary High School and Calabar High School also welcomed Stokes’ gift as an educator. At Calabar he was also the Baptist Chaplain.
In 1982, after noteworthy contributions to religion and education, Stokes started the final leg of his working life at The Gleaner Company. His 14-year journey at The Gleaner began with his appointment as head of the Human Resources Department of the Company. In 1986, he was appointed Editor in Chief of The Gleaner, a role he fulfilled until 1992, when he retired.
In 2008, two years before his death, the national Order of Distinction (Officer class) was bestowed upon Stokes, during the annual National Honours and Awards ceremony at Kings House. His recognition was for his contribution to education, sports, religion and journalism. He was too ill to personally accept the award and his daughter, Theresa, represented him.
On April 8, 2010, after suffering for nearly ten years from the combination of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, Stokes passed away peacefully at the Golden Touch Nursing Home in Mandeville, Manchester. He was 73. Stokes died leaving his second wife Veronica, children Dudley (Jr.) and Nelson Christian and daughter Adrienne (Terry), four grandchildren, and stepchildren Ryan, Marco and Tamara Gourzong.
After his passing, Oliver Clarke, Chairman and managing director of The Gleaner Company, spoke of Stokes’ years at The Gleaner. He noted Stokes’ “willingness to share his expertise” and said he “was highly respected by his colleagues…. [H]e also had an integrity that I grew to admire.”
Garfield Grandison, Stokes’ successor as the Gleaner’s editor-in-chief said this: “He was a master of his craft, a thinker and a leader of no mean order. Many will credit him for their success academically and otherwise…. While we mourn his passing, we must also pause to celebrate the achievements of a great man,” he added.
Stokes held many roles that have not been highlighted above. For example, he was chairman of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica’s Committee on Education, a member of the Education Advisory Council at the University of the West Indies, and a member of the Prime Minister's Task Force on Tertiary Education. He was president of the National Council for the Church and Social Action.
Stokes’ Funeral Service was held on Saturday, April 24, 2010, at the Boulevard Baptist Church in Kingston. Among those paying tribute to the deceased was Jamaica Defence Force Captain Sonia Harris, who remembered Stokes who had served the Defence Force in the rank of captain, first class. Harris said Stokes was “a dignified military man who needed no reminder of the expectations of a military officer.” She highlighted one often forgotten aspect of Stokes’ many-faceted life in which he distinguished himself as a leader.
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