Mitella Woolery - woman of many gifts

Richard Morais, Gleaner Writer

MT SALEM, St James:

At 102 years, with her faculties intact, it was the celebration of a life well lived and continuing for Mitella Woolery when her church family at Mt Salem Seventh-day Adventist recognised her at divine worship recently.

Greeting was brought by Custos Ewen Corrodus, who also read the governor general's message. He spoke of the honouree, with whom he has personal contact, being a brother-friend to her son, as a remarkable woman. Having been close to her, he was able to highlight her positive values and remarkable mothering instinct.

The citation was read by wife of the custos, Daphnie Corrodus, who spoke of Woolery's strength and commitment to God through her church. Other tributes in song and spoken word were also paid to the honouree.

Homemaking and motherhood

Born on February 9, 1909 in Vaughansfield, St James, Woolery was blessed with a godly grandmother who nurtured her during her childhood. Her father, Sydona Vaughans, was a descendant of plantation owners of Vaughans-field estates in St James, and her mother was a descendant of slaves. She attended the local elementary school, where she was blessed with a solid educational foundation.

As customary in those days, females rarely pursued careers outside the home and so Mitella settled down at an early age to the task of homemaking and motherhood. She married Samuel Woolery and they were blessed with eight children: Pearl, Delores, Nora, Clasford, Muriel, Astley, Samuel Jr and Henry. She also has many grand, great-grand, and great-great-grandchildren.

Mitella Woolery has been blessed with several gifts and has used them to serve the church in various capacities for many years. These include pianist, deaconess and choir member, among others. She is an excellent cook and her delectable productions would be the first to 'sell off' at every harvest service and other church functions.

She loves outreach ministry and participated at every opportunity. She has also been endowed with good housekeeping and gardening skills.

She lost her husband while in her early 40s and chose not to remarry, but to devote herself to her family and her church. Needless to say, bringing up eight children single-handedly was no easy matter. She worked long and hard as a farmer and shopkeeper to care for her family.

Successful children

All of Mitella Woolery's children are successful professionals or entrepreneurs. This is due, to a large extent, to the many encouraging letters she frequently wrote to them. Mum, as she is affectionately called, is blessed with good health. She has none of the lifestyle diseases that are so prevalent in society today.

She is still an avid reader and still does her own laundry, especially her church clothes, since it is difficult to find anyone to do her laundry clean enough to suit her standard. She ascends and descends the stairs at home and walks around unaided.

Mrs Woolery is blessed with a good memory, is excellent at math and still does currency conversion and other calculations without the aid of a calculator. No one can outsmart her with her change from shopping errands or banking transactions. She is blessed with a keen sense of humour, and is a true role model for many.