Corporate Jamaica and those who are part of the Restaurant Associates Limited (RAL) family were saddened on receiving the news that matriarch and philanthropist Lois Lake Sherwood had passed.

She was an extraordinary woman with a remarkable business acumen, acute intelligence, a patriot, an artist, the possessor of a wicked wit who built enterprises that have endured.

In her later years, she held the title of chairperson emeritus of RAL but, somehow like the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, it’s not hard to imagine her as a back seat driver whose assessments mattered.

Lois Lake Sherwood belongs to the great pantheon of Jamaican business matriarchs; Audrey Hinchcliffe, Lorna Myers, Thalia Lyn, Gloria Palomino and Rita Humphries Lewin.

An issued press release read: “The family of Lois Cecilia Lake Sherwood, CD regrets to announce the death of our beloved matriarch, renowned artist and chairman emeritus of Restaurant Associates Ltd, franchisees of Burger King, Popeyes, Little Caesars and Krispy Kreme.

 “Lois was a trail blazer who defied the ordinary and rejected any notion of the impossible. For her, “can do” was the only way forward; a pervasive philosophy that now flows through RAL’s corporate ethos. Our family’s group of companies is sustained on the merits of hard work, tenacity and togetherness that Lois set.

 “A beacon of mental endurance and optimism that remains at the foundation of her family and her family’s business to this day, her generosity, encouragement and wisdom has nurtured a company culture that continues to thrive.”

Lois Lake Sherwood was a woman of vast reserves of energy and brought an indomitable will to all she undertook. She was not the vacuous soulless tycoon, solely focused on money and profits. She understood what a corporation should be about and the role it should play in both personal and national development.

She leaves behind a big footprint and a big legacy.

Her granddaughter Lisa who serves as Group CEO and director of RAL has demonstrated that she has what it takes to step up and step into her grandmother’s shoes. She can fill that footprint.

Lisa is an accomplished executive in her own right. A Harvard graduate, she was a senior analyst at NERA Economic Consulting, director of Brand Extensions at Sandals Resorts, CEO of the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship-Caribbean, Co-Founder and Chief Development Officer of itelbpo Smart Solutions before being appointed as Group CEO of the Lake Group of Companies in 2020.

She hails from an accomplished family, her father, Richard Lake, a successful businessman; her step-mother, Lisa Hanna, a former Government minister and presently shadow spokesperson on foreign affairs; her sister, a former Virgin Atlantic executive; her husband, Yoni Epstein, the founder of itel, which is becoming the leading BPO player across the Caribbean.

She has been preparing to take over from her grandmother for sometime and the moment is now here. Lisa is no nepo-baby. She can helm the group of companies for decades to come and make Lois Lake Sherwood proud.

Lisa has a calm and collected disposition. She is amiable and not prone to outbursts and aberrant behaviour. You know where you stand with her. The group of companies would be in a safe and steady pair of hands.

We mourn the passing of a great Jamaican business matriarch and hail the accession of one in the making.