Tourism Pioneer Theodore “Ted” Isaac Dies

1. Been experiencing what I would term bereavement overload recently. So many persons that I know whether from my school days, work, church or other areas has died recently. It is an overwhelming feeling, almost emotionally numb and physically drained.

2. Deepest condolences 🙏

3. Sympathies to his family! Rip! I could remember my encounter with him while working at APUA, It revolves around a project he did at five islands on the highway to hawks bill hotel, he had some beautiful condominiums and the APUA pole lines was intrusive being overhang into his property polluting the aesthetic of his project, he requested the APUA do something about the pole lines and the supervisor staff had no recommendations but for the entire line be put underground with the expenses been borne by Mr Ted Isaac adding to the cost of his project, at that time I was working in the planning department and someone told him about someone in APUA who could do unsupported gye pole structure, the planning engineer spoke to me and asked if he could give Ted Isaac my number and I agreed, me and Mr Ted Isaac spoke when he eventually called me, and I set about to execute the project and had the line transfered on the other side of the road adjacent to galley bay hotel property fencing without touch their fence and not intruding on their property to install any anchor support for the pole structure transverse load caused by the force of the wire offset angle above, such engineering feat does not come by overnight, it came from deep pursuit and love for my trade as a linesman, resigning from APUA in the 1980’S to go work with the finest electrical engineer in Antigua and Barbuda Mr George Piggott and then off to work with the electricity corporations (BVIEC) in the virgin islands where I became a top linesman, in those days I was trying to achieve the title journey linesman from experience and different system work exposure, I didn’t know there was a linesman college until in my latter years and the advent of the internet, I found out and saved $10,000.00 ECD to go attend to prepare for the free movement of skill coming into being in the Caribbean, as I requested time from the APUA to attend the government had just changed in 2004 which had become a facilitator unlike in the past I took the Antigua state college exam to attend and participate in studies in electronics because I was trying to relocate from the vindictive supervisor and head of the T&D department at the time, but the electricity manager told me straight out he don’t see it beneficial to the company of me acquiring any more training or skills, I thought it would build on the company human resources capacity and Antigua on a whole because today we have LED streetlight that can be repaired and thrown away like conventional lamps which came in the vicissitudes of time, so now the UPP government was in power and my time was near to head off to northwest linesman college, the head of the board Mr potter saw the benefits that the company could accrue because I was going to get certified in hotline work, gloves technique. so there would not be any power interruptions as obtained, it will be less prevalent, I do it in other countries but wanted to bring it to the benefit of Antigua and Barbuda but was fought tooth and nail by the same set of supervisory staff, but the first chairman Mr potter and the UPP administration had a fallout, or else he was going to follow through with changes to APUA under a new government mandate, the second chairman that replaced him was more concerned about APUA real estate autonomy and not been a tenant as the ALP had placed APUA over the years, and not about the workers, the acquisition of further skills and training created a further acrymonious relationship between the supervisory staff and myself where they were continuous institutional confrontations, because APUA does not have any standards and staking sheet system, only guess work concerning pole measurements and placing of wires and apparatus on the pole, when I worked in the virgin islands their would be measurements, and to start live hotline work the company will have to adhere to standards and measurements because life and safety depends on it. But long and short I leaved the APUA not been able to impart my knowledge of work to the future linesman and improving the capacity and resilience of APUA as a statutory body, but those same supervisory staff shall retire and sit on their gallery and see the younger generations that replaced them carrying out my dream of seeing hotline work been done in Antigua like Barbados and Trinidad and am not going to mention any USA territory like Puerto Rico, I could still contribute but the government would have to bring in engineers from outside to train our engineers who are at the head of running the company without any internship in modern power systems and power quality customer service, you will hardly find an engineer that would come with me in that bucket truck to do any work on the power line because they would be mortally afraid of electricity in which they have celebrated title as electricity manager and other titles.
   So I leave APUA with a body if work that will be studied in the future, even workmen I have trained that is carrying the torch today, so my knowledge and experience had made APUA resilient.
   I will always love been a LINESMAN.

4. Sympathies to his family! Rip! I could remember my encounter with him while working at APUA, It revolves around a project he did at five islands on the highway to hawks bill hotel, he had some beautiful condominiums and the APUA pole lines was intrusive being overhang into his property polluting the aesthetic of his project, he requested the APUA do something about the pole lines and the supervisor staff had no recommendations but for the entire line be put underground with the expenses been borne by Mr Ted Isaac adding to the cost of his project, at that time I was working in the planning department and someone told him about someone in APUA who could do unsupported gye pole structure, the planning engineer spoke to me and asked if he could give Ted Isaac my number and I agreed, me and Mr Ted Isaac spoke when he eventually called me, and I set about to execute the project and had the line transfered on the other side of the road adjacent to galley bay hotel property fencing without touch their fence and not intruding on their property to install any anchor support for the pole structure transverse load caused by the force of the wire offset angle above, such engineering feat does not come by overnight, it came from deep pursuit and love for my trade as a linesman, resigning from APUA in the 1980’S to go work with the finest electrical engineer in Antigua and Barbuda Mr George Piggott and then off to work with the electricity corporations (BVIEC) in the virgin islands where I became a top linesman, in those days I was trying to achieve the title journey linesman from experience and different system work exposure, I didn’t know there was a linesman college until in my latter years and the advent of the internet, I found out and saved $10,000.00 ECD to go attend to prepare for the free movement of skill coming into being in the Caribbean, as I requested time from the APUA to attend the government had just changed in 2004 which had become a facilitator unlike in the past I took the Antigua state college exam to attend and participate in studies in electronics because I was trying to relocate from the vindictive supervisor and head of the T&D department at the time, but the electricity manager told me straight out he don’t see it beneficial to the company of me acquiring any more training or skills, I thought it would build on the company human resources capacity and Antigua on a whole because today we have LED streetlight that can be repaired and not thrown away like conventional lamps which came in the vicissitudes of time, so now the UPP government was in power and my time was near to head off to northwest linesman college, the head of the board Mr potter saw the benefits that the company could accrue because I was going to get certified in hotline work, gloves technique. so there would not be any power interruptions as obtained, it will be less prevalent, I do it in other countries but wanted to bring it to the benefit of Antigua and Barbuda but was fought tooth and nail by the same set of supervisory staff, but the first chairman Mr potter and the UPP administration had a fallout, or else he was going to follow through with changes to APUA under a new government mandate, the second chairman that replaced him was more concerned about APUA real estate autonomy and not been a tenant as the ALP had placed APUA over the years, and not about the workers, the acquisition of further skills and training created a further acrymonious relationship between the supervisory staff and myself where they were continuous institutional confrontations, because APUA does not have any standards and staking sheet system, only guess work concerning pole measurements and placing of wires and apparatus on the pole, when I worked in the virgin islands there would be measurements, and to start live hotline work the company will have to adhere to standards and measurements because life and safety depends on it. But long and short I leaved the APUA not been able to impart my knowledge of work to the future linesman and improving the capacity and resilience of APUA as a statutory body, but those same supervisory staff shall retire and sit on their gallery and see the younger generations that replaced them carrying out my dream of seeing hotline work been done in Antigua like Barbados and Trinidad and am not going to mention any USA territory like Puerto Rico, I could still contribute but the government would have to bring in engineers from outside to train our engineers who are at the head of running the company without any internship in modern power systems and power quality customer service, you will hardly find an engineer that would come with me in that bucket truck to do any work on the power line because they would be mortally afraid of electricity in which they have celebrated title as electricity manager and other titles.
   So I leave APUA with a body of work that will be studied in the future, even workmen I have trained that is carrying the torch today, so my knowledge and experience had made APUA resilient.
   I will always love been a LINESMAN.

5. @Hazel Roberts. You’re a real dick rider. Gtfu off your knees and stop swallowing.

6. Hazel Roberts- I understand your gripe and how you were kept down by our own. However this is a tribute to Ted Isaac and your contribution is primarily about yourself. Such a lengthy article you wrote and it’s all about the saga between you and APUA.
   Ted was a great supporter of Antigua cricket abd cricketers. He knew them all by name. He also was an ardent supporter of West Indies cricket and played his role in accommodations and looking after their hospitality when they were here. In those days Jolly Beach was the place all the teams stayed . They had a nice cricket field with nets , dressing rooms etc .

7. @frankly speaking: you know I will agree with you a 100% , maybe I had become emotionally nostalgic recalling my ever first encounter with Ted Isaac who sees the sky as the limit as he gets what ever obstacles in his path cleared, I concur with you about other halcyon years of Ted Isaac which I am oblivious of, my personal feelings and experience in life I got to live with and sometime I decide to let it out because I may help someone who is in that same struggle in life, but it’s fun to hear all the things you mentioned of Ted, he was a philanthropist.

8. I remember Ted as Holiday Innkeeper in Sarnia/Port Edward Ontario in the late 1970s. He had a wonderful sense of humour and each time I visited from HO, he would arrange to have dinner with me. I was Asst Director of Entertainment for Commonwealth H Inns at that time. Fondly remembered after 50 years.
   Randy Barber

9. The only local black general manager in our hotels. SIP Ted!

Comments are closed.