made good

Local boy who made good

Edouard Pentecost had become al most a legendary figure in New Caledonia, even before the island was stirred with the news of his death on October 4.

The man who died as president of a $5O million-a-year industrial empire, as master of the immense villa on Rocher a la Voile headland and as a Caledonian mourned throughout the territory, was born 62 years ago in the village of Ro, on Mare in the offshore Loyalty Islands.

Those who have swum at Noumea’s Anse Vata beach and looked up at the huge mansion on the “Sailing-ship- Rock headland to the north may well wonder: how could a man born on a tiny offshore island of 3,000 inhabitants become New Caledonia’s wealthiest millionaire and best-known unofficial ambassador in world capi tals from Paris to Tokyo. To those who knew his broad smile and confi dent handshake, the answer lay in his dynamic and engaging personality, in his vision of the territory’s ever developing possibilities and in his drive to work hard and see affairs concluded.

Mr. Pentecost had been ill for seve ral months with circulatory problems.

He died of heart failure surrounded by household members and several doctors. Only a couple of hours earlier he had been signing docu ments concerning Noumea’s second brewery, due to be operating by the end of this year. The previous day he had driven out to a new housing site being developed at Noumea’s 7th Kilometer.

He is survived by his wife, Madame Henriette Pentecost, two married sons Michel and Philippe, both living in Noumea and his daughter Claude, Madame Guy Francois, who lives in Brussels.

At the time of his father’s death, Michel was flying to Tokyo for im portant talks on the nickel ore crisis, but was able to fly back in time for his father’s funeral two days later.

If one of his forefathers, Captain Pentecost, had an island named after him in the New Hebrides, Edouard Pentecost gave his name to a whole business empire, now known as the Groupe Pentecost. At the news of his death, half Noumea’s business life seemed to stand still. There were

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whole blocks of closed doors along the Rue de I’Alma, Noumea’s main street, as Pentecost shops and busi ness houses mourned the passing of their directing spirit. From one end of the street to the other and nearby, the Pentecost group offers the latest $lO,OOO Citroen car, Caterpillar bull dozers, Italian tableware and trans istor radios, shipping, travel and in surance services, besides holding a share in the new Paribas NC Bank, now under construction.

In a ceremony honoured by the biggest gathering ever seen about a tomb in Noumea, Edouard Pentecost was buried at the 4th Kilometer cemetery, after a service in Noumea’s Protestant Church. His body was laid to rest in the family vault shared by his mother and his elder brother Rich ard, who died as a young man in the New Hebrides, after a horse-riding ac cident.

The two boys had come to Noumea for their secondary education at the La Perouse High School. They later worked for the trading firm Hagen Brothers. Young Edouard then sailed around the islands as supercargo in boats trading especially with the New Hebrides. In 1932 he married Hen riette Leyraud and about that time entered business on his own account, his first venture being a book store on the Rue de I’Alma, opposite the present large Librairie Pentecost book store.

His first manager was Paul Demene, a man who spent many intervening years outside the territory, but who, today, sits high in the Pentecost Pyra mid. They were friends back in the early days, playing soccer together.

Pentecost was in the Caledonian side to play the first Australian soccer team that came to the island in 1933. He was also captain of the water polo team that played in Australia about the same time. In a moving tribute to his support for sport, only a few days before his death, Pentecost was presented with the Caledonian soccer team’s highly-prized trophy, brought back after their recent win at the Tahiti Games.

Back in the early days on the Rue de I’Alma, Pentecost joined with the Ventrillon family to build Noumea’s first modern building on the Rue Georges Clemenceau corner, with “Claude France” fashion goods now on the ground floor. Pentecost later acquired the Hagen Brothers’ Citroen agency, originally next door. This was at the beginning of a chain of activities which were eventually to revolve especially around nickel ope

rations. After becoming agent for Caterpillar heavy mining equipment in 1947, it was from the ’fifties that Pentecost pioneered the sale of nickel ore to Japan, thus developing what became a very lucrative business for Caledonian mine operators.

Not all his projects followed an untroubled trail to success, however.

The dreams of the son of Mare did not always coincide with the schemes of the Paris bureaucrats. Many Cale donians believe that it was too irritat ing and envy-provoking for certain Metropolitan French to admit so much power and success in an islander. Whatever the reason, Pente cost did not succeed in gaining ap proval to operate his own commercial air service. His group nevertheless owns six Cessna aircraft and two heli copters. In addition, Pentecost’s plan to construct a nickel smelting factory on the West Coast never received Paris blessing, nor did his project to build a conveyor belt for ore delivery to the seaside.

No doubt the biggest frustration were the snap quotas Paris introduced in May 1970 on Caledonian nickel ore shipments to Japan. Pentecost was stunned and protested strongly when Paris imposed a 853,000 tons quota on his operations, after he had received contracts to export almost twice that amount last year. As a result, he had to ship $600,000 worth of prospecting equipment back to Japan. The Japanese subsequently de cided to rely less heavily on New Caledonian supplies and their latest announcement to cut purchases from the island was what had sent Michel Pentecost flying to Tokyo on the eve of his father’s death.

Pentecost’s other primary pioneer ing work had been in contacts, since 1958, to have Canadian INCO enter

the territory and build a smelter near his mines in the south of the island.

However, like General de Gaulle who had promised Caledonians this “second company” (apart from the French SLN), Pentecost was not to see the realisation of this project.

Grieved though he was at what seemed to be obstacles placed in the way of the territory’s development, Pentecost rose above frustrations posed by certain authorities. A repre sentative of his enterprise said recently that the group now has 2,000 em ployees; pays some SUSSOO,OOO in monthly salaries; contributes $60,000 monthly in payroll tax for workers social service benefits and in 1970 paid $5 million as customs duty into the territory’s coffers.

He had few overseas investments, but a couple of apartments in Paris.

While generating all this local activity, Edouard Pentecost built the > most luxurious residence on the island, where the family took up residence four years ago. Here, with balconies and terraces overlooking the sea on both sides, and with glittering salons to receive his guests, Edouard Pente cost would host a dinner party of 50 friends, who would include a visiting Canadian ambassador, a vice president of the US Caterpillar group, Japanese nickel buyers, some of his local mana gers and colleagues from the Terri torial Assembly.

He had a vision of building other beautiful homes in Noumea: on a waterfront estate behind Ouen Toro mountain, and a project for some 400 home sites with marina and business premises. The new suburb is being planned with an Australian construc tion company, Edouard Pentecost was hoping to call it the Domain of Wanatchore which, in the language of Mare Island, means “Beloved .