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At the registry office, his name was Jean-Joseph Félix. But in Saint-Barthélemy, for all and sundry, he was simply Joe. On December 23, on the eve of the Christmas holidays, he passed away at the age of 92. For almost a century, Joe Félix accompanied the history and evolution of the island. With the curiosity and intrepidity of a pioneer, he brought back to Saint-Barth the ideas, innovations and businesses seen elsewhere. With the death of Joe Félix, an important part of the island's history has been lost.
Jean-Joseph Félix was born in 1932. A child of Corossol, he went to school in Colombier. He grew up in the harsh, austere environment of the island in those distant years. Occasionally, his mother, who ran a small shop, entrusted him with a parcel to deliver to Flamands during recess. On his short break, the little boy hurriedly made the round trip before taking his place on the school benches. By the age of thirteen, Joe was longing for a new life. By this time, it was almost time to get to work. So he embarked on a schooner.
"His first dollar.
The ship sailed from island to island, from Guadeloupe, where some girls were taken to study, to Saint-Thomas. It was here that Joe, who didn't speak a word of English at the time, made an encounter that would give a new direction to his life. In the French Quarter, French Town, where he could rub shoulders with a few St. Barths at the bar Le Normandie, Joe was approached by a man. The man invites him to a nearby hotel for the evening. The young man doesn't hesitate, and on the spot is offered a job in the front room. Without asking too many questions, he took the plunge. "That's where he earned his first dollar," smiles one of his daughters, Noëlle.
At the same time, Joe began to "drive a cab". In 1952, Joe was introduced to the owner of St.John Bay Rhum at Le Normandie bar. The entrepreneur was looking for packaging for his bottles, and after observing the traps and pots used to catch fish, he wondered whether it might be possible to use this technique to decorate his rum bottles. A new adventure begins. Joe and Thérèse, his future wife, go to Saint-Kitts-et-Nevis to observe weaving techniques different from those they learned in Saint-Barth. Then they returned to take on board the island's families in this venture. "The bottles were delivered to several houses in Saint-Barth, they were braided, picked up by Joe who had bought a truck on purpose to make the rounds and then the bottles would leave again," recounts Noëlle. Everything came to a halt in 1995, when Hurricane Luis devastated the lataniers on Saint-Barth.
"My father was always curious
In 1956, Joe married Thérèse. "At the time, he was still going back and forth between Saint-Thomas and Saint-Barth, particularly for the mail relay," smiles Noëlle. In Saint-Thomas, Thérèse worked as a seamstress. In 1958, their first child was born. Before each birth, they came back to Saint-Barth because they wanted their children to be French," says Noëlle. As for school, they sent them to Saint-Barth. "A second daughter was born in 1962, followed by a third child in 1966. It was then that the couple decided to return to Saint-Barth.
My father was always curious, with a desire to move things forward," explains Noëlle. He thought that what he had seen in Saint-Thomas and then elsewhere could be done in Saint-Barth. "In Corossol, he had a building constructed in which he opened his first establishment: "Chez Joe". A bar, a billiard table, but also a dance hall on Saturday nights, where you had to be dressed in "smart" clothes to get in. Later, the bar became a three-room motel.
The origins of Femur
In 1970, Joe launched the first airport bar, but also "Chez Joe", this time in Gustavia. In 1975, the Petit Morne hotel adventure began. But before that, Joe worked on the construction of what would become the island's flagship hotel, Eden Rock. "With Rémy de Haenen, they used dynamite to break rocks," recounts Noëlle. Also with Rémy de Haenen, Joe and another man built the airstrip on Tintamarre Island.
Although he only dabbled in politics from a distance and with his fingertips, Joe Félix never hesitated to share projects that could help the island's development. Like when, with Alexandre Magras, he lobbied the BNP to set up a dollar bank on the island.
Joe was also one of the people involved in the creation of Le Fémur. The first incubator donated to the hospital is still there," says Noëlle. It was almost taken to Saint-Martin, but my father decided against it. He was right to do so, because his first grandson was born premature and he needed it! "Joe was also one of the founders of the hoteliers' association in the 1980s.
A keen sportsman, he retains his passion for the sea and sailing. He organizes regattas at local festivals, notably the Corossol festival, where he was barman for many years during the festivities. Traveling to discover the world, dancing, gardening - Joe Félix's passions were as simple as his life was rich. Like his lineage of four children, five grandchildren and one great-grandson. "Who he met just a few days before he left," Noëlle explains. A final, momentous encounter, like all those that marked Joe Félix's life.
