After 63 years of pursuing a routine of rising, dressing herself and going to the office, Gem Morgan-Eytle appears not to know how to turn off this protracted habit. Fortunately, at 81, she remains mentally sharp, has her wits very much about her and remains blessed with the physical resources that allow her to persist in what, over the years, has become an ingrained pursuit. The owner and General Manager of Frandec Travel Service, Health Insurance and Business Centre has learnt to count her blessings.
These days she has reduced her work routine to four days a week to ensure – as she puts it –that she keeps her fingers on the pulse of what is happening, particularly in the travel sector. Eytle continues to want “to get into the action of things in town.” Behind her desk she looks the part in her tasteful brown floral and white suit.
A career in the British Guiana Civil Service that would otherwise have ended in retirement long ago was truncated by her marriage to Fredrick ‘Freddie’ Eytle in 1954. Married women were not allowed to serve in the British colonial Civil Service.
In 1955 she joined the firm of Francis de Caires and Company Limited (Frandec) as a clerical assistant and switchboard operator. At the time Frandec served as commission agents for imported shoes, lotion, hats, threads, ties, shirts and as the local representative for North American Life, Lloyds and Yorkshire Insurance companies. In 1960, the Frandec Travel Agency, believed to be the first travel agency to be established locally, was set up. In 1963 Gem was appointed Company Secretary and, in 1968, in the face of the failing health of the company’s founder and Chairman Francis de Caires, she assumed the position of Managing Director. Subsequent expansion included the creation of a health insurance service as part of the company’s operations.
Much has changed since then. Eytle now serves as Chairman of Frandec having passed the responsibilities of the role of Managing Director to her daughter, Kathryn McLean. She said that while her daughter spends most of her time in the US, modern communication technology affords her the facility of running Frandec on a day-to-day basis.
January 2011 brought tragedy for Frandec and for Eytle. The Main and Holmes streets building that had become synonymous with the company was destroyed by fire. If most women of her age would have had their spirits crushed by that occurrence, Eytle soldiered on, opting to work through the loss of both physical location and valuable company records to put the pieces together again. Sometimes, she says, she is still pained by the irreplaceable losses. Still, Frandec managed to open its Business Centre last year.
More than that, she rejoices in the fact that she has received a commitment from her son and granddaughter that Frandec will pass to the next generation.
Eytle remains committed to ensuring the continued viability of Frandec. She pays keen attention to the global travel industry though she favours what one might call an old-fashioned, ethical approach to doing business that has become less commonplace in the contemporary commercial culture.
After the death of her husband 19 years ago she simply immersed herself in her business and the rest of family: Kathryn; Raymond Eytle, who serves as Senior Assistant Registrar at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus and her grandchildren. She says she enjoys cooking and gardening and remains an enthusiastic seamstress, turning out clothing for both herself and some friends. Still, she makes no bones about the fact that her life continues to belong in business and somehow you get the feeling that that is not about to change for Gem Morgan-Eytle.
