Thanks to John Pantozzi for this article in the Antigua Sun:

'Special Delivery' Jones passes away

Wednesday October 29 2008

by Neto Baptiste

Conrad Efraim or “Special Delivery” Jones, who is hailed as one of the steadiest performers ever to have appeared in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) ring, formerly the WWF, passed away at his home here in Antigua on 26 Oct., at the age of 63.

Conrad, it is reported, died as a result of a massive stroke, leaving to mourn his wife Kathlyn Efraim and his children to include daughters Donna and Carol along with his son Jermaine. Apart from his wife, who also resides here in Antigua, all three of their children reside in the United States of America (USA).

Conrad, who could be considered one of Antigua’s forgotten heroes, was born in the village of Pigotts but migrated to St. Croix when he was 13 years old before moving onto the USA where he met and was trained by WWE Hall of Famer Johnny Rodz in the early 1970s. Conrad got his big break in 1976 when he entered the WWE and spent the next 10 years of his life wrestling as a professional until he retired in 1986. According to postings on the web, one of the more infamous distinctions that Conrad will be remembered for, was his match against King Kong Bundy at the inaugural WrestleMania in 1985.

When the Antigua Sun met and sat down when Kathlyn or “K” as she is affectionately called, who met Conrad in San Juan in 1958, she fought hard to hold back tears as she spoke of her husband and his love for family and country.

“As a father, he is great – he was super – there are no words that can describe him as a father above others who will go to the extreme for his children,” she said.

Kathlyn, who has been married to Conrad for 39 years since tying the knot on 29 March of 1969, remembered her husband as someone who was always fond of boxing and working out at the gym but never saw himself becoming a professional wrestler until he met Rodz.

“He never thought in his wildest dreams that he would have become a wrestler – when he was in Antigua, his friends told me that he use to box and lift weights and then when he went to the Virgin Islands he was lifting weights until one day there was a wrestler by the name of Johnny Rodz who met him at the gym and said to him, Conrad I see you can do more than just lift weight and I am going to take you to someone. He took him to Vince McMahon Sr., of the WWF and that’s where he got his name ‘Special Delivery’ Jones.”

“McMahon said to him, ‘your name is special delivery because you were specially delivered,’ and when they asked him where he was from he didn’t answer because he was a little embarrassed because a lot of people did not know about Antigua so they decided to say he was from Philadelphia since they met him there but as he got more and more into wrestling he said no – I am from Antigua in the West Indies,” Kathlyn said.

She told the SUN that she has been trying to cope with her husband’s death and that many people, here in Antigua and abroad, have either called or dropped by to offer their condolences. The funeral service for Conrad will be held on 13 Nov., at the Ebenezer Methodist Church on St. Mary’s Street.