Trelawny pharmacist Wren McNally recalls poverty, family lessons and rise to leadership

Pharmacist Wren McNally says his journey from rural hardship in Warsop, southern Trelawny, to leadership roles in Kingston has been shaped by family discipline, honest work and a desire for his life story to encourage others.

McNally, founder of Three Angels Pharmacy, is involved in the Seventh-day Adventist movement and serves in pharmacy leadership, including the Pharmacy Council and the Pharmacy Association of Jamaica. He said the path he followed was something he had long imagined as a boy, hoping that one day his experiences could help motivate someone else.

His childhood began in 1973 in Warsop, a farming community between Troy and Albert Town. He described the area as yam country, while also noting sugar cane, bananas and springs in the wider rural setting. In his view, Warsop produces some of the finest yam in Jamaica.

McNally said he grew up in a loving home with both parents, even though the family had little money. His mother, whom he remembered as deeply hardworking and strict about doing things properly, would take him out early in the morning to help sweep streets. He recalled carrying a shovel and push broom while she used a smaller broom.

He said he was once embarrassed when vehicles passed, but his mother corrected him. “Whatever you find to do with them, and work honestly, nothing be nothing to be ashamed about,” she told him, referring to his hands. McNally said that lesson changed his attitude toward work.

His father, also a farmer, was remembered as generous, sociable and politically passionate, though McNally said gambling sometimes caused problems for the household. He later discovered his father could not read, after seeing him unable to help a younger sister with a basic schoolbook.

Despite that, McNally said his father could travel from Troy to Kingston and hold intelligent conversations throughout the journey. He also described him as a strong political figure who shifted from the PNP to the JLP and was never shy about declaring his position.