Former MP Wendell Callender passes

Wendell Callender, a former Member of Parliament for Christ Church East with the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), has passed away.

His wife Margot Durant-Callender said he died at the Queen’s Elizabeth Hospital on Sunday after a brief bout of illness. He was 70 years old.

After being first associated with the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), Callender successfully contested the 1994 General Election with the BLP. Five years later, he switched back to the DLP, but lost the seat.

He later went on to form the Citizens Action Party, and in 2018, contested the St James Central seat for the United Progressive Party.

The marketing specialist also had a long freelance association with the Nation Publishing Company as a columnist for community activities and followed up his earlier column A View From The Pew with The Bajan Way and much later A Slice of Bajan Life in which he moved around the country highlighting the social life of ordinary Barbadians.

Along the way, Callender also wrote several books, either on his own behalf or for others. In 2006 he wrote Tools For Life: A Practical Guide for Personal Development. In 2014 he released Five Prime Ministers Of Barbados and in a further chronicling of Barbados’ development he penned Fifty For Fifty: A Memorable Community Leaders Of Barbados.

Callender was a graduate of the University of the West Indies; he held a BA in Economics and Politics, a Diploma in Education and BSc in Public Administration. He also successfully completed studies in Marketing, Export Marketing and Business Law with the Barbados Institute of Management and Productivity (BIMAP). He was Deputy Principal of Cooperative High School and Principal of Caribbean Training Institute.

He worked as Executive Director of the Barbados Manufacturers Association, Marketing Officer of Barbados Tourism Authority, and Supervisor (Administration) Central Bank of Barbados. (PR/AC/SAT)