Devoted husband and father Winston Jones, who lost his life on Saturday while driving his teenage son, was remembered yesterday by his widow Shirelle as a consummate family man.

His loved ones had been expecting to celebrate Mr Jones’s 50th birthday this Friday.

“Winston always had a smile and no grudges for anybody — if you were down, he would want to lift your spirits up,” Mrs Jones said as she gathered with relatives and friends at the couple’s home on Cedar Park Road, Devonshire. “He was a very tight family man.”

The two had been married for 17 years, and Wednesday of next week would have marked 17 years since Mr Jones started work at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel.

A much-loved member of staff known for his beaming smile, Mr Jones had climbed the ranks at the Princess to become head of its purchasing department.

Mr Jones hailed originally from St Ann’s Bay, capital of the parish of St Ann in Jamaica, and maintained close relationships with siblings and school friends.

He still used his old nickname of Charlie B — a reference to the titular “Peanuts” cartoon character’s trademark wisp of stray hair — by which everyone back home knew him.

Yesterday one of his school friends, who Mrs Jones said had been planning to visit the Island next week, wrote a tribute on his Facebook page that read: “I just wanted to tell you I love you. My friend Winston Jones died on Saturday tragically. He survived two hurricanes in Bermuda and died in an accident, and it made me realise once again how short life is.”

The Island had just begun its recovery from Hurricane Gonzalo, early on Saturday afternoon, when Mr Jones set off on his motorcycle with his 14-year-old son Shirwin riding pillion.

Mr Jones was taking his son to use the shower at the hotel when his motorcycle was involved in a collision with another bike at the junction of Court Street and Reid Street. His death marked the 11th fatality on the Island’s roads this year.

His son was at home yesterday recovering from road rash and an injured knee.

Mrs Jones recalled meeting her future husband in 1992, while taking a cruise on the Zenith with her mother and grandmother. Mr Jones, who was working on board at the time, struck up a rapport with her.

Two years later, when Mr Jones happened to stop in Bermuda on a cruise run, the two met by chance on the streets of Hamilton.

“We walked across each other — we both turned around, and it went from there,” Mrs Jones said. They were married in 1997, and their son was born in 2000.

Mrs Jones said: “His son was his world — he did everything with his son.” A cabinet in the living room combined her husband’s model cars and motorcycles with their son’s athletic medals.

The couple lived at Loyal Hill, Devonshire before moving to the apartment complex at Cedar Park Road, where Mr Jones joined the Community Board as treasurer.

Winston Jones also made a lasting impression on his colleagues at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel, she said.

“I don’t think there’s anybody that will be the same as Winston. He was always the one to lift you up.”