Condolences Pour In Following Death Of Former Educator Oswin ‘Zeke’ Sewer

ST. CROIX — The territory’s leaders followed the death of Oswin “Zeke” Sewer Sr., a retired educator and Board of Education member, with remarks praising his lifelong contributions to the territory, and was aptly described by Sen. Kenneth Gittens as “a prime example of the type of person that this territory was built on.”

Sewer died in a hospital in Puerto Rico while on a 50th Reunion trip with Charlotte Amailie High School on Sunday. He was in his late 60s.

Governor Kenneth Mapp said he was deeply saddened by the news and asked the territory to keep his family in prayer.

“Let us all keep his wife, Laurel, their children and grandchildren in our prayers, and let them know that we as a community are here with support,” said the governor.

Mapp also acknowledged Sewer for his long career as a public educator in schools on both St. Thomas and his native St. John.

“Our public education system has continued to benefit from Oswin Sewer’s work since his retirement, given his service as an elected member of the Board of Education, and appointment to the University of the Virgin Islands Board of Trustees,” Mapp said. “His time with us was well spent”, Mapp adds, “given his devotion to family, community, and church.”

Mr. Sewer led the Council of St. John’s Nazareth Lutheran Church, among other activities consistent with his commitment to community service.

Former Delegate to Congress Donna M. Christensen also expressed condolences.

“It is with sadness that I join the St. John and entire Virgin Islands community in expressing my condolences and that of my family to the family of Oswin A. Sewer, Sr.,” Christensen said. “As a member and Chair of the VI Board of Education, as an AFT union leader, during all his years at the Department of Education as teacher and principal and as an active member of the St. John community, he was a dedicated public servant and we are grateful for his service.

“Of course he was also a devoted husband and father and our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time of unimaginable grief.”

After graduating from Charlotte Amalie high school in 1965, Sewer attended and graduated from Morgan State University in Baltimore in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and anthropology. He would later receive his master’s degree in education from the University of Miami in Coral Gables in 1989.

“When I heard of Mr. Sewer’s passing, I was very saddened as I thought of all the contributions he has made over the years and the void that will be left in the community, in the organizations where he was active, and specifically on the V.I. Board of Education, which he recently was chairperson,” Gittens said.

“He was a person who did not sit around and ask what his community could do for him. Rather, he took up the torch whenever necessary and lead his community and did whatever he could to make it a better place to work and live.”

Governor Mapp concluded his remarks by stating that Sewer’s family should be comforted by the proud legacy that he  left, which includes a large and respected family, a devotion to God and community, and a wide circle of friends and acquaintances who now mourn him, and will miss him greatly.