Shirley M. Osborne
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
The Office of the Speaker notes, with sadness, the passing of former Parliamentarian Mrs Margaret Dyer-Howe.
She was first elected in a bi-election in 1979, only the third woman in Montserrat to accede to elected office. Thereafter she was elected in the General Elections of 1983, 2001 and 2006.
She served her country, in the capacity of a Parliamentarian, for 16 years, some of that time as Minister of Health, Education, Community Services, Women Affairs, Culture and Sports and Minister of Agriculture, Land Housing and the Environment. She laid a solid foundation upon which other Parliamentarians, both male and female could build. An incredibly brave woman who came to power in a time when political leadership was not considered open to or appropriate for women, she took a stand for women and for Montserrat’s societal advancement. She was never afraid to stand up for what she knew was right, proper and necessary. This, and her hard work ethic earned her the lasting respect of her constituents and fellow Parliamentarians.
Mrs. Dyer Howe served with integrity and calm dignity as she strove to improve the lot of her fellow Montserratians.
Our thoughts and prayers are with her family at this time. We, too, mourn her loss.
