Marcelle Fenton, the force unmatched (Part I)

Mandeville, Manchester:

She is known to some as a matriarch and to many others a philanthropist, accomplished businesswoman, educator, and the greatest person of all time with a larger-than-life personality.

Marcelle Fenton has, for years, solidified her mark in every space she has graced with her presence, and she attributes her ability to do so to her parents and the values they instilled in her.

“I was always very clear on what I wanted to become – the best teacher on Earth. My father used to say that teaching was the world’s best profession, so myself and most of my siblings are trained teachers. My parents were firm believers in the importance of a great education, and so most of us went to Clarendon College. Throughout my life, I have continued to pursue educational endeavours with vigour.”

Gifted With Books

While children from other households would eagerly welcome toys as gifts, Fenton and her siblings were excited to be gifted with books.

“We had an encyclopaedia set at home, and it was the norm to receive books as our Christmas gifts, as opposed to toys. We grew up as avid readers and felt like we lived through the pages of our books as our imagination transcended us beyond our small local community to places throughout the world that we dreamt one day we would be able to visit in person,” she said.

With 15 children in a household, things can get chaotic pretty quickly, but Fenton told Family & Religion that her childhood was nothing short of beautiful.

“I had a tremendously beautiful and fulfilled life, born in the hills of Chapelton, Clarendon. I am the 10th of 15 children living with our parents, Sydney and Olga Clark. We copied the social life of society, so we all played netball, football, cricket, hula hoop, baseball, ring games; flew kites; played gigs; climbed trees; had beauty contests; learnt to dance up a storm; had concerts on moonlit nights; had dance parties using RJR’s top 20/40 songs countdowns on a Saturday night.”

Church attendance and reciting Bible verses were mandatory, and they all soon learnt that “Jesus wept” was not an acceptable verse.

“All siblings, whether boy or girl, were taught to be all-rounders, and we all worked and played together…,” she said.

With footing on such a foundation, Fenton’s success was inevitable.

“I have been both an educator and a member of the life insurance industry for decades. I joined the insurance industry in 1983 and have moved through the ranks while also being a teacher for 45 years at the secondary and tertiary levels, including Church Teachers’ College and the Management Institute for National Development,” she said.

Many Achievements

During this time, she has garnered many achievements and recognitions, including the prestigious Million Dollar Round Table on several occasions. She was the Jamaica Professional Secretaries Association All Island Boss of the Year and Manchester Chapter Boss of the Year in 1995.

She was deputy congress director of the Caribbean Association of Life Underwriters (planning a motivational congress for English-speaking Caribbean territories). She was recognised as Man of the Year (2000) by the Life Underwriter’s Association of Jamaica, now Jamaica Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, and inducted into the CARAIFA Hall of Fame for service to the insurance industry in 2006. She was the first female president of her Rotary club in 2003.

Now the executive branch manager of Chancellor Insurance Agency in Mandeville, a justice of the peace, and a motivational speaker who has presented across the world, Fenton continues to make her mark as she has so much more left in her.

Next week, we find out how she balances all aspects of her life and what plans she has for the future.

familyandreligion@gleanerjm.com