John Compton - Illness and Death

Illness and Death

On 1 May 2007, Compton was hospitalized in New York City after he suffered a series of strokes which left him physically impaired. He fell ill while visiting a doctor for a normal checkup.

On 16 May, Leonard Montoute, who serves as St. Lucia's Sports Minister and deputy leader of the United Workers Party, said that Compton was unable to stand or walk on his own and that the cabinet would select a new Prime Minister to lead the island nation.

Compton returned to Saint Lucia on 19 May. He temporarily resumed power in early June to oversee a cabinet reshuffle, in which he remained Prime Minister but gave up the finance portfolio to Acting Prime Minister Stephenson King. King said on 8 June that Compton's condition was improving. On 11 July, he attended a meeting with several cabinet ministers, the first time he had done so since the strokes.

In late July, it was announced that Compton would resign by the end of 2007. On 26 August, Compton was admitted to the Tapion Hospital in Castries because he was having trouble breathing due to pneumonia. While there, it was learned that he had suffered another stroke while recovering from the previous strokes. On 1 September, he was flown to Martinique for treatment of his pneumonia. While there, his condition worsened and he was placed on a ventilator. On 4 September, doctors decided that his condition was hopeless; on 5 September, he was returned to the Tapion Hospital in Saint Lucia to die. He died there on 7 September 2007. Acting Prime Minister King declared two weeks of mourning, beginning on 8 September.

A state funeral was held for Compton in Castries, at the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, on 18 September. Despite Compton's Anglican faith, the local Catholic church was used due to the large number of mourners and at the request of Sir John. The funeral services held in Micoud on 16 September and at the Minor Basilica on 18 September were in keeping with the requests of Sir John for his funeral service, including the hymns which were specifically requested by him. He was cremated on 19 September and his ashes spread in the Troumasse River at his estate in Mahaut upon his request.

In a by-election held on 26 November 2007, Compton's daughter Jeannine Compton won his constituency of Micoud North.