Renowned educator, trade unionist Patrick Frost dies

The Most Honourable Patrick Frost, one of the island’s most distinguished educators and trade unionists, whose influence shaped classrooms, labour negotiations and public life for generations, died on Wednesday evening at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital after a brief illness.

Widely respected for his lifelong dedication to teaching and education reform, Frost was celebrated for his leadership within the labour movement and his profound influence on generations of students and educators at The Lodge School. 

Details of his death were not immediately available. He was said to have been ill in hospital for the last two weeks, fellow alumni said.

For 25 years, Frost served as general secretary of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) and was the inaugural general secretary of the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB).

Reacting late Wednesday with “great sadness” to the passing of a “national treasure”, Principal of The Lodge, Stephen Jackman, an alumnus and former head boy, said: “Frost was a name synonymous with The Lodge School for generations. I knew him first and foremost as my teacher who pushed for academic excellence with an exquisite use of language. He would later become my colleague as I joined him as a teacher, and in this guise I saw first-hand his commitment to trade unionism in Barbados as he championed the cause of teachers through his stewardship of BSTU.”

Jackman added, “He was also an avid sportsman as recently as September 2024, turning out for the old boys in the annual cricket match. He was the master in charge of tennis for most of his career at The Lodge. Teacher, unionist, national treasure, sportsman, Patrick Frost embodied the motto, ‘they can because they think they can’.”

Frost entered The Lodge at just under age eight, eventually returning to teach after graduating from Oxford University in 1962. He devoted his entire working life to the 280-year-old St John school, playing a pivotal role as head of the English department, housemaster and bursar, and helping to shape the school’s ethos through a commitment to academic excellence and civic responsibility.

In addition to his contributions in the classroom, Frost will also be remembered for developing the school’s sporting activities and for instilling fair play and community spirit among students. 

Of his co-founding of CTUSAB, Jackman said: “I would later join him at CTUSAB, where he was one of the guardians of the institutional knowledge of the umbrella body he helped form.” 

In recognition of his work to improve the standards of education and teachers’ rights as a respected voice in debates on reform and national development, Frost received the nation’s highest honour, the Order of Freedom of Barbados, in the 2020 Independence Honours, as well as various other accolades throughout his remarkable career. His legacy lives on through the annual Patrick Frost Award at The Lodge School, presented to students who embody his principles of duty, progress and unselfish loyalty. 

“The Board of Management, staff and students of The Lodge School extend condolences to his family during this trying time,” said Principal Jackman. (BT)