Guyana oldest engineer, Grenville Felix, of Canefield, East Canje, Berbice is 96 years old. He reached that milestone on July 16, last. The occasion was observed with a simple Birthday Bash at his residence.?? Present for the celebrations were his children and relatives, some from the United States and other parts of the world, and a host of well-wishers who reflected on the life and work of the noble gentleman.Grenville Felix on his birthday.At the function tributes were read by Grenville Felix’s grandchildren among others.Felix or ‘Uncle Gren’ as he is called was born on July 16, 1917, in Betsy Ground, East Canje to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Felix. His father, Thomas, was a balata bleeder and his mother, Rachel, was a housewife. He is a father of 10.Felix was one of the first local engineers from Guyana to be promoted by Booker’s, the former British conglomerate that ran the sugar industry In Guyana.He started working at the age of 16 as an apprentice at the sugar factory and moved up the ranks to Factory Engineer Foreman back in 1954. In 1958 he was promoted to a Senior Factory Engineering Foreman after which he was promoted to Assistant Engineer in 1967.In 1972, Grenville was promoted again to Senior Engineer where he trained and mentored Assistant Engineers and performed administrative duties as well as consultations. In 1974, he was promoted to Assistant Factory Manager- Engineer,NFL Jerseys Wholesale, and retired three years later in 1977. Due to his outstanding performance, he was recalled to work with the same designation in 1978. He provided technical assistance to the Engineers, training and consultation.Felix is not only talented for his engineering skills, but also for adroitly making iron chairs and other kinds of chairs, something he enjoyed up to a few years ago. He is also a very staunch ‘family man’ who in the prime of his parenthood years, instilled the most important survival lesson to his children.During his early years,NFL Jerseys Cheap, he recalled scrubbing floors, as well as washing large bundles of clothes. He also remembered catching fish as being among some other chores. One such was riding his bicycle for two hours to New Forest,Cheap Jerseys From China, East Canje, then walking for about another hour to the North Cumberland Farm where he would spend about three hours planting rice, and two hours harvesting produce from the farm.The products were then carried for one hour through puddles of mud and pimples, in order to bypass the fearful ‘Stump’ in the Canje Creek.Grenville attended Elementary School in Betsy Ground, East Canje, and at age 13,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, he received a partial scholarship to attend Collegiate School in Georgetown. He returned to Canje upon the completion of that scholarship.? From an early age he was able to read blue prints and do his drawing based on Geometric principles.Grenville Felix as an engineer in his younger days.Amazingly,NBA Jerseys China, at the age of 96, he can still vividly remember things. He recalled a horrible incident at the Rose Hall Estate which took place on January 13,Jerseys Wholesale, 1970, when seven workers in the boiler section drowned.As a result of the fatal accident, Sir Edward Luckhoo, the acting Governor General of Guyana, ordered a Commission of Inquiry. Sir Kenneth Stoby headed the Commission. A report was issued in May 1970. It concluded that the men died from the dangerous gases in the clarifier.The Commissioners blamed Booker’s (now Guysuco) for its failure to ensure compliance with the Factories (Safety) Regulations of 1953. The Report also faulted the company for other failures. It called for written instructions to be issued to workers and more frequent factory inspection by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.Grenville Felix spent most of his affirmative years working in the Sugar Industry most of which were spent at the nearby Rose Hall Estate. He concluded that through his job, he saw many parts of the world including England, USA and many Caribbean countries.During his early years he has been a member of countless social and community-based organisations. Felix has trained many engineers across the country to sharpen as well as master their skills in the field and says that he is still available to give advice.The second annual Grenville Felix cycle road race will be held today from in front of his residence.