I received, for me, the saddest news of the week. A dear friend had died. A man of great integrity. A kind man. A man with a gentle smile and a firm handshake. Always positive. A Christian man. He had a very difficult job. He was a Grand Court Judge.

I am talking of Justice Charles Quin.

I had known Charles (Charlie) for many, many years, even before he was a judge. When I was a surveyor we worked on a number of business matters involving legal disputes and Charles was a lawyer. First with Bruce Campbell and Company and then as senior partner of the law firm, Quin & Hampson, from 1992 to 2007.

We became friends when we met nearly every Wednesday morning at 7:30am at St George’s Anglican Church for Holy Communion, or Morning Prayer (that I officiated at) and he urged me to take up Holy Orders. I turned that down immediately.

We also had something else in common. We both were inflicted with Prostate cancer. A disease that finally put him to sleep last Friday (7).

It was at St George’s, early one Sunday a few months ago, when I last met him and he told me the devastating news. His cancer had got much, much worse and the prognosis was bad.

His last words to me were, “Don’t be sad for me, Colin. I’ve had a good innings.”

Justice Quin had been a Grand Court Judge since May 2008 and before that he served on many occasions as Acting Magistrate of the Summary Court. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2004.

In a statement, Chief Justice Anthony Smellie made the sad announcement saying the judge had passed away at the Quin home here in Cayman, in the company of his wife and sons.

The Chief Justice said:

“Justice Quin served the Cayman Islands very admirably as a Judge of the Grand Court for more than ten years, prior to which he practised at the Bar of the Cayman Islands and in other regional jurisdictions for more than 25 years.”

“Justice Quin was very greatly admired and respected within the Judicial Administration, the Cayman Islands legal fraternity and the wider Cayman community, as well as in other jurisdictions around the Commonwealth.

“He will be greatly missed and the jurisdiction will always be grateful for his service.

“An announcement will shortly be made on the arrangements for the celebration of his life.”

Charles was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 1978. He practised for three years.

In 1981 he was admitted as an attorney-at-law to the Supreme Court of Bermuda.

He served as a Crown Counsel in the Attorney General’s Chambers of the Government of Bermuda until 1984, before coming to the Cayman Islands and admitted as an attorney-at-law of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands in January 1985.

Justice Charles Quin is survived by his dear wife Diana, and his sons Nicholas, Thomas and William.

Dear Charles. RIP. You will NEVER be forgotten.