The life of the late Ralph Chen, who was seen as something of a champion for minority shareholders in local companies, was celebrated on Wednesday, just under two months after his death on December 3.

Chen was 67.

Jeffrey Cobham, a friend of Chen, lauded his accomplishments over the years, especially in relation to the business environment.

Cobham noted in a tribute given at Wednesday's funeral, held at the St Andrew Scots Kirk Church in downtown Kingston, that Chen had a keen interest in the Jamaican business environment, particularly in publicly listed companies.

"As a small shareholder in many companies, he made it his duty to attend annual general meetings, where his prior scrutiny of annual reports enabled him to stand up in these meetings, raise questions, and make comments and suggestions about a variety of issues," Cobham noted.

"Ralph spent a lot of time attending seminars and was a voracious and seemingly insatiable reader. He had a library of hundreds of books, primarily on business and management, but with a significant content of books on religion, philosophy and positive thinking," he added.

Cobham also noted that Chen spoke often about his ability in business networking, and was proud that he was personally acquainted with most of the chairmen and CEOs of the largest local companies.

"His primary occupational focus was in the area of accounting, and he had a grand design (he always had big plans) for setting up an organisation to provide accounting and tax compliance services for small businesses at an affordable cost."