Hyacinth J

Russell

My name is Marjorie West-Lawrence and I've been afforded the opportunity to speak for a few minutes about my mother-in-law, whose life we are celebrating here today. "The life given to us by nature is short, but the memory of a life well spent is eternal".

Hyacinth Joyce Russell, the matriarch of the family, was affectionately known as Joycie, Miss Joyce, Miss Dulcy, Dunchy or as most of us called her, Mama. She was born in Collington, Clarendon, Jamaica on April 16, 1937, to Ursula and George Russell and was the 3rd of 9 children. In her early life, she attended the Collington all age school where she completed most of her formal education. This later led to her being a teacher's assistant at JAMAL - Jamaica Movement for Advancement of Adult Literacy. Though not formally trained, she served as a nurse, midwife, babysitter, and counselor throughout her community. Her generosity with her time, her energy, her advice, and in so many other ways provided invaluable support to a remarkable number of people. During this time, she went on to have two children, Winston and Noreen. Unfortunately, Winston died of unknown causes at the tender age of 17 years. Hyacinth later had 5 more children, Barrington, Everton, Kevin, Petrina and Tamica.

Throughout Hyacinth's life, she had many different occupations, including poultry production worker, clothing retailer and even a domestic housekeeper. Undoubtedly, she did everything in her powers to provide for her children. Hyacinth was a prayer warrior, a dreamer, a miracle worker, and a passionate defender and supporter to her children and grandchildren. Hyacinth dedicated her entire life to Christ. She served as a faithful appointed church missionary for many years and seldomly missed Sunday services or prayer meetings and fasting on Wednesdays. She migrated to the United States on November 10, 2015, where she resided with her son, Everton and his wife Marjorie in New Jersey and later moved to Texas with her daughter, Tamica. She spent her last few years living the life she has always dreamt of; she was very well loved and cared for.

Hyacinth is survived by 6 children, 19 grandchildren, 15 great grandchildren, two brothers, other relatives and friends. Though she is gone, she has left a legacy of her love and perseverance. The way she touched our lives will never be forgotten. We will miss her dearly, but for what it is worth, we know she is off to a better place; as to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2nd Corinthians 5:8). We can just imagine her smiling and saying to us now, "I am so, so proud of you." Thank you!