Jose Emilio de Montbrun, born in Port of Spain on April 15, 1898, and baptized in the Rosary RC Church on April 30, 1898, was the elder of the two sons of Jose Leandro de Montbrun, Barrister at Law and Josephine (‘Josie’) Laughlin-de Montbrun. He was educated at St. Mary’s College in Port of Spain. An avid sportsman, he participated in cycling and football. He represented Trinidad in cycling in 1921 in Guyana. He played football in Canada and Trinidad in the position of forward, namely for Shamrock Football Club, Casuals Football Club, Southern Football Club and Queen’s Park Football Club. He was a foundation member of the Trinidad Amateur Athletic Club. Like his father before him, he had a love for horse racing and successfully bred a number of champion horses including the Trinidad champion horse ‘Vigilant’.

He began his career in 1914 at the tender age of sixteen (16) years of age with Barclays Bank where he stayed for four (4) years until 1918 ending as a cashier. In 1918, he moved to Nestlé Milk Company where he worked until 1921. In 1921, he returned to the banking sector as a cashier at the Canadian Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and was promoted in 1923 to Accountant in the San Fernando Branch of the CIBC.

In 1925, Jose Emilio left the shores of Trinidad and moved to Canada where he became an Assistant Sales Manager with a company that would play a major role in his future, Robin Hood Flour Mills, in Montreal. In 1927, he married Vera Lillian Sharpe, while employed with the Canadian Pacific Railway in Montreal. In 1930, he joined Toronto-based Diadem Flour Mills as a Sales Manager. He returned to Trinidad in 1933 and joined Grell & Company Limited in 1934, one of the oldest and most enterprising companies in the West Indies at that time, as a Sales Manager. It was during his tenure at Grell that Jose sharpened his business acumen and eventually became one of Trinidad’s foremost and respected businessmen.

In July 1940, in the midst of a growing demand for condensed milk in the West Indies, Jose de Montbrun, on one of his frequent business trips to Canada, contacted The Laurentide Dairy Products, a Quebec-based manufacturer of condensed milk brands of Crino and Red Cow. After a period of negotiation, Grell and Company and Laurentide Dairy Products, early in 1941, consummated a deal between them that at the time was one of the largest ever entered into between individual firms in Canada and the British West Indies. Under this agreement the Canadian company during 1941, exported on average about 13000 cases per month of condensed milk to Trinidad alone, with an additional 5000 to 7000 cases to other West Indian islands included in the Grell agreement. Grell & Company was quick to realize Jose’s growing business skills and acumen and he was made a Director in 1941.

In 1958, Jose left Grell & Company and with his sons, Robert, Norman and Louis Anthony de Montbrun formed “de Montbrun & Company Limited”, a sales and marketing agency with offices at #6, Charlotte Street, Port of Spain, Trinidad. The company represented over the years of its existence several major brands in Trinidad & Tobago including Four Cows Milk, Libby’s Foods, Kraft Food Products, Tulip Canned Meats, Robin Hood Flour & Bell’s Scotch Whiskey.

Attachment: Newspaper advertisement for Bell’s Scotch Whiskey
Attachment: Newspaper advertisement for Four Cow’s Condensed Milk
Attachment: Newspaper advertisement for Kraft Cheese
Attachment: Newspaper advertisement for Libby’s Food Products
Attachment: Newspaper advertisement for Robin Hood Flour
Attachment: Newspaper coverage of Mr & Mrs Jose de Montbrun's 25th Anniversary

Jose Emilio de Montbrun left this life on March 7th, 1979, just a few weeks shy of his 81st birthday. He was buried at the Laughlin burial plot in Lapeyrouse Cemetery in Port of Spain.