Nassau, The Bahamas – The Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas issued the following statement on the passing of former parliamentarian and Cabinet minister in the first Majority Rule Cabinet formed in January in 1967.
I am saddened to learn that former Cabinet minister and Grand Bahama MP, Warren J. Levarity, passed away on Sunday after a lengthy illness. He was 82.
Mr. Levarity was a member of the first PLP cabinet that followed the attainment of Majority Rule in 1967. He served as Minister of Out Island Affairs in that historic cabinet and represented the Grand Bahama District and later the West End & Bimini Constituency in the House of Assembly. He would later part ways with the PLP and become one of the Founding Fathers of the Free National Movement.
Mr. Levarity was an astute political strategist with a deep knowledge of Family Island politics. In the struggle for Majority Rule he played a key part and, with His Excellency Sir Arthur Foulkes, was known to be among Sir Lynden Pindling’s closest and most trusted advisors.
In his own right, however, Mr. Levarity was, for a great part of the 1960’s, the dominant politician in Grand Bahama which he represented in the House of Assembly from early as 1960. His standing was further enhanced by his father, the late Garnet Levarity, who was a patriarchal figure and senior public official for many years in Grand Bahama.
It is noteworthy that with Mr. Levarity’s passing, the Hon. Arthur D. Hanna is now the sole surviving member of the first Majority Rule Cabinet.
I extend heartfelt condolences to Mr. Levarity’s widow, Vera, his children and other relatives and I do so not only on my own behalf but for and on behalf of the Government and the Bahamian people.
May the soul of this distinguished Bahamian and historic figure in the Struggle for Majority Rule rest in peace.
