Pershing Albert Rock Waldron

Pershing Albert Rock Waldron was the second Speaker of the House of Assembly in Dominica. Born on April 4, 1945, Waldron became the Speaker of Parliament in January 1979 under Prime Minister Patrick John and left the position in June 1979 having spent only six months in office. However, he was elected as the opposition leader in the House in October 1980 and he resigned in January 1981.

Pershing Waldron attended St. John’s School and St. Mary’s Academy. He worked at senior positions at Barclays Bank in Dominica, Antigua, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. He was Assistant Manager of Credit at Antigua Commercial Bank, and also a manager at the Antigua Commercial Bank Mortgage and Trust Company Ltd.; he went on to head TCI Bank in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Waldron was ordained a deacon in the Catholic Church in October 1996, and he served the church in several islands and countries in the Caribbean. In 1980, he contested as the Dominica Labour Party (DLP) candidate for Portsmouth constituency but lost against Michael Douglas of the DDLP.

Pershing Albert Rock Waldron died on July 9, 2019, and the government declared August 6, 2019, as a day of national mourning for his demise. All flags were lowered to half-mast while his funeral held at the Portsmouth Catholic Church. His body was interred at the Catholic cemetery in Portsmouth. He was survived by wife Junie Waldron, nee Walker, and five children Gail, Kenn, Pershing Jr., Hudle, and Sharon.