Cut from the same cloth as his trailblazing father, Truman Bodden and his four sisters were raised on love and traditional Cayman values in the same family cottage, treading the same few steps to the seaside convenience store and adjacent Print Shop as had Mr. Arthur D. Bodden, their charismatic ‘Daddy,’ who worked the businesses well into his 80s. With little need for discipline, Bodden’s childhood possessed a familiar rhythm with Bible reading morning and night, household chores, and church on Sunday. And, he jokes with a grin, “If I ever did get out of line, my sisters would bring me back in line so so quickly!”

Some Thursday afternoons from age eight on, he worked at Mr Arthur’s, learning the art of commerce and customer care, and sometimes, when he was older, skipping school to do the books and help with hand-printing in the Print Shop. He reflects, some seven decades on, “I felt proud to be in the store, especially when my father left me on my own. I learned to be careful… And to get along with people.”

Attending the Cayman Islands Prep School from age six and, later, the High School, even as a youngster, Bodden possessed a sharp intellect, natural aptitude, and incisive wit. By just 15, he had completed his final exams, sometimes studying by kerosene lamp when electricity was scarce, and portentously became the only one in his class to obtain the Grade One Cambridge Leaving Certificate. It was the first of many glass ceilings the young Caymanian would shatter in his long and esteemed career.

The ensuing six years, he worked for Barclays Bank, simultaneously accumulating banking qualifications. By age 21, he became an Associate of the Institute of Bankers, making him one of the youngest qualified bankers in the Caribbean. Nevertheless, despite offers of a senior management role, Bodden knew that, in order to chart his own course, he would have to be bold and resolute. Like his father before him, against the advice of many, he left the shores of his beloved homeland and headed ‘across the pond’ into the hustle and bustle of London’s legal heartland – the crucible in which his legal mind was forged.

The first in his family to attend university overseas, he was granted one of only two available government scholarships to attend the prestigious Inns of Court School of Law, which is recognised for instilling in its graduates the groundwork for leadership, innovation and excellence. Close to the Royal Courts of Justice and the Old Bailey Central Criminal Court, Bodden studied to become a barrister, returning home just two-and-a-half years later with a Bachelor of Law (Honours) degree from the University of London External and, in later years, a string of additional qualifications and credentials as long as his arm, including, in 1969, being the first Caymanian barrister admitted to the Bar of England and Wales. In fact, Bodden discovered that he liked taking exams and accumulating credentials. Along the way, he became an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, a Fellow of the Institute of Financial Accountants, a Fellow of the Institute of Public Accountants, a Fellow of the Institute of Credit Management, an Associate of the Chartered Management Institute, a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Fellow of the Institute of Directors from UK institutes.  Plus, he laughs, self-effacingly, “It was cold in England… Doing extra courses kept me inside in the warm!”

Back home, the industrious graduate set about working for the government as Crown Prosecutor until 1972, simultaneously fulfilling roles as Her Majesty’s Coroner and even, at the tender age of 24, Assistant to the Attorney General. What’s more, within the next two years, he had become a founding shareholder and Director of the island’s own, Cayman National Bank Ltd., whose mission to support Cayman saw Bodden’s involvement spanning over 46 years, including his role as Chairperson of the Cayman National Corporation Ltd.

A far cry from his humble beginnings, with characteristic grit and fortitude, in 1972, he founded his law firm, Truman Bodden & Company, Attorneys-at-Law, in the nation’s capital, George Town. Over the next decade and a half, Bodden was senior partner of his leading Caymanian law firm and a member of both the Cayman Islands Law Society as well as the Caymanian Bar Association. Where once he had fished the family cove for grunts and squabs in his 10-ft hand-crafted skiff, he now found himself able to indulge his love of boats, purchasing a Cheoy Lee yacht for large family trips to the Sandbar and Little Cayman, and a Mako for fishing wahoo and waterskiing. For all accounts and purposes, Truman Bodden had made it to the big time… but hanging up his suit and tie was never an option.

There’s just something about the Bodden family – something of legend and legacy. Not content to sit on his laurels, notably during this time, in 1983, Bodden became a leading force behind the vision of what many thought was a mere folly: the island’s first law school. “Many persons on island didn’t think we could do it,” Bodden recalls of the naysayers. “Some laughed and said I was crazy.” Yet, as the saying goes, The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that do.’ In 2014, Bodden received an honorary doctorate from the University of Liverpool for his pivotal role for establishing the Cayman Islands Law School, later renamed the Truman Bodden Law School. Now affiliated with the University of Liverpool in the UK, local students can access quality, internationally accredited tuition from their doorsteps.

It is, however, for his contributions to political life for which Bodden is perhaps best known. Entering politics as an elected member for George Town from 1976 – 1984 and 1988 - 2000, he served in various terms as Minister for Health, Education, Social Services, Aviation and Planning. Public service was an opportunity to give back to the islands dear to his heart, but Bodden is reticent about his accomplishments. Yet, here is the man of vision who was Leader of Government Business when the government extended both the Cayman Islands Hospital and the University College of the Cayman Islands where, in life’s beautiful full-circle way of things, his daughter, Dr. Alexandra Bodden now lectures. Bodden also opened the eponymously named 3,000-person-capacity Truman Bodden Sports Complex with its football stadium, full-purpose track and field facilities and basketball/netball courts. As Minister for Planning, his government got two development plans approved and developed Vision 2008 with the public’s input. But… he was not done yet.

1994 saw Bodden awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) during the royal visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. Not one to take these moments too seriously, he laughingly recalls the front-page photograph showing his younger daughter aged five, who had earlier taken his medal while sitting on his shoulders, captured for all time having walked in front of the Royal Couple to get the best view of a paper sculpture of the HMS Convert from the Wreck of the Ten Sails presented in commemoration of the visit. The boy from the general store was becoming the Honourable Dr. Truman Bodden, OBE, Leader of Government Business.

Albert Einstein wisely said, “Try not to become a man of success. Rather, become a man of value,” and sitting on the wall beside the 78-year-old Truman Bodden, as the sun sets over the bay, one is hard-pushed not to be awestruck by this gently spoken man’s accomplishment. Like his father, he grew to change the face of his Island home and write his own chapter in Cayman’s history books...  Yet, what may well be his most lasting legacy may very well be that he is, above all else, a man of values and a Caymanian true to his heart.