Visitor Center to Bear Name of Longtime Community Leader Claire Roker

Bill 35-0239 passes unanimously, honoring Ms. Roker's work in tourism, women's advocacy, and youth development in the Virgin Islands.

About half a dozen testifiers were present at Friday’s meeting of the Senate Committee on Government Operations Veterans Affairs and Consumer Protection to support the push to honor Claire Lorraine Brown Roker. Bill 35-0239, co-sponsored by Senators Novelle Francis, Kavan James, Angel Bolques Jr., and Donna Frett-Gregory, would name the the visitor center at the Abrahamson marine facility in her honor.

The first to speak was Donna Christian Christiansen, herself an honoree of the Legislature. A friend of Ms. Roker’s, Dr. Christiansen quipped that many people call her “the mayor of Frederiksted” because of her long history of community work in the town. Ms. Roker is an “indefatigable volunteer” who “lives for her family” but “still has plenty room for her friends,” Dr. Christiansen told lawmakers. “It's often said that if there's a difficult job to be done, give it to a woman. But in the Virgin Islands, if there's a job that's not only difficult, but complex, and probably has to be done creating something out of very little or nothing, give it to Claire and you will end up with a masterpiece.”