Elmore Stoutt, a former legislator, teacher and principal, is the latest Virgin Islander to receive Queen’s honours “for services to education and to the community in the British Virgin Islands,” according to a statement released this week by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Mr. Stoutt said this week that he accepts the Order of the British Empire award with humility, and he credited his career of service to the expectations of his family.
“My grandmother would have expected no less of me,” he said, listing names of many family members who made service to the community a priority in life, such as his uncle, H. Lavity Stoutt, the territory’s first chief minister.
Mr. Stoutt said community service may start as a chore, but it always comes with a sense of satisfaction.
“You’re doing it because you’re bound and you serve with pleasure because you know it’s a duty you’ve got to do,” he said.
Governor Boyd McCleary expressed his “warmest congratulations” to Mr. Stoutt in a written statement.
See the June 21, 2012 edition for full coverage.
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