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Last week, the late Don Wehby, former group CEO of GraceKennedy, was inducted into the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) Hall of Fame.

It was a poignant ceremony, bearing in mind that Don Wehby passed away earlier this year.

Don Wehby was an honourable man who led the conglomerate with grace, taking a principled approach to his work. GraceKennedy made significant strides during his tenure.

GraceKennedy’s Group CEO Frank James spoke insightfully about his former boss at the ceremony held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel as Wehby became the 31st inductee into the PSOJ’s Hall of Fame.

Below is his full address: 

Tonight, we celebrate Don’s induction into the PSOJ Hall of Fame, a well-deserved honour for a leader who changed lives, uplifted communities, and left Jamaica better than he found it.

Jamaica was very dear to Don, and I know he would be heartbroken at the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa. I want to pause to acknowledge the profound impact of Hurricane Melissa, a storm which has tested our nation but has also demonstrated our strength and resilience as a people.  Yet, even in the midst of loss and hardship, you are here this evening, and that means more to our GK Family than we can ever fully express. Thank you for showing up to honour Don. 

If the aftermath of Melissa has taught us anything, it is that the power of togetherness is a force stronger than any hurricane. And I know, without question, that if Don were with us today, he would have been among the first to mobilise relief and to bring the public and private sector together to ask, ‘What can we do?‘, and then get it done. So thank you for the togetherness expressed by your presence this evening.

I also want to pause to take a moment to recognise someone whose strength, grace, and unwavering resilience have anchored all of us as we have come to terms with Don’s passing over these past few months: his wife, Hilary.  While we were supposed to be anchoring you, your quiet strength anchored us.

Many may not know that Hilary worked at GraceKennedy for over two decades – so lovers of Grace Cup Porridge, the original Zesti and our flagship Tropical Rhythms – you now know who was key to these products. Those who knew her then, and those who know her now, will tell you that her warmth, her discipline and her calm determination have always been unshakeable.

She was not only Don’s partner in life but one of his greatest inspirations and sources of support. And just as Don stood beside her through her own challenges, she met his with the same courage, steadfastness and heart that defined their life together.

Hilary, you are an inspiration to us all, and we are truly honoured to have you with us this evening.  Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to impose on you to stand and help me recognise Mrs Hilary Wehby!

GraceKennedy is proud to be a long-standing member of the PSOJ and to partner with you in staging tonight’s event. The PSOJ has always stood for principled private sector leadership in service of national development, a mission that aligns perfectly with both GraceKennedy’s purpose and Don’s commitment to nation building.

GraceKennedy’s connection with the PSOJ goes back to the late Carlton Alexander, one of the PSOJ’s founders and our former chairman and CEO. Carlton Alexander believed that the private sector had a duty to serve the nation, not just profit from it, and famously said, ‘If it’s good for Jamaica, it’s good for GraceKennedy‘.

Don lived that same conviction every day, whether as a PSOJ vice president, a senator, or simply as our boss walking through the GK corridors asking, ‘How yu doing?‘, and genuinely wanting to hear your answer.

Don wasn’t just a businessman; he was a believer. He believed in our country, he believed in our people, and he believed that business could, and should be, a force for good.

Education was one of Don’s deepest passions. He believed that a child’s future should never depend on their circumstances and that education must be a right, not a privilege. As group CEO of GraceKennedy and chairman of our Grace and Staff Community Development Foundation, he pushed us to open doors for young Jamaicans who simply needed someone to believe in them. He often said that if we could change the trajectory of one young person’s life, we could change a family, a community, and our country.

Tonight, I want to share with you what that belief has meant in real terms for the young people whose lives Don helped to shape. 

That, ladies and gentlemen, is just a glimpse into the heart of Don’s legacy. And so, in honour of his lifelong commitment to youth development, GraceKennedy and the PSOJ join in donating J$1 million to the Grace and Staff chairman’s scholarship fund, a cause Don founded and championed with immense pride.   

Now, given all that has unfolded in recent weeks, we believe it is important that these funds meet the moment our young people are facing. Many students in the western parishes are experiencing immense hardship as they try to continue their education in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. This donation will therefore go directly toward supporting those students, helping them finish the school year and sit their CSEC exams with confidence. Exactly the kind of meaningful, practical impact that Don would have wanted.

As we honour Don tonight, we do more than remember; we recommit ourselves to the GraceKennedy core values he lived by – honesty, integrity, trust, commitment, humility, and respect – and to his unshakable belief in Jamaica’s potential.

You can still see Don’s legacy all around us, in the teams he built, the young people he mentored (myself included), the communities he helped to uplift, and the skyline of downtown Kingston itself.

In 2019, one of Don’s proudest dreams became a reality: the completion of GraceKennedy’s new headquarters at 42–56 Harbour Street. Don often spoke of GK as being a global company headquartered in Jamaica, and for him, the new GK HQ was far more than a building. It represented a promise, that GK would proudly remain anchored at home, committed to revitalising downtown Kingston, and to building a future even stronger than our past.

Tonight, we honour that promise, and the man who made it possible. It is therefore my great privilege to announce that this iconic landmark, GraceKennedy’s global headquarters, will now be known as the Don Wehby Building.

May it stand as a lasting symbol of Don’s vision, his love for Jamaica, and his belief that true greatness lies in uplifting others.

And finally, for all his accomplishments, Don’s greatest legacy is his children, Nicholas, Stephanie, and Abigail. He is so proud of you. Hilary, the love of his life, Dorothea, his treasured sister, his wider family, and everyone who loved him, please accept our continued love and gratitude. Thank you for sharing him with us.

Let us all continue to honour him not just in name, but in action, by leading with the same courage, humility, and heart that he showed us every day.