Winnifred Hemans

Born to Robert and Fransella Reynolds in Leamington district, Westmoreland on February 1, 1922, Winnifred Hemans, nee Reynolds, (affectionately called Miss Winnie, Mama Winnie, or Sa Nance) was the second of 8 children (3 boys and 5 girls). At 102 1/2 years, she was the last surviving sibling.

Winnifred was educated at the then Dundee Elementary School, Westmoreland, and developed a love for sewing very early, receiving lessons from the well-established and competent, Mrs. Molly Gooden, later, Atkinson, as well as from first class Tailor and Cutter, Alfred Hemans, who became her husband, shortly after their first encounter.

Winnifred, herself quickly mastered her craft and became popular even beyond the community of Berkshire, Westmoreland, which was to serve as home for most of her life. She skillfully balanced sewing and caring for her relatively large family of 6 boys and 4 girls. Her clientele included adults and children, with Christmas, Easter, and back-to-school being especially popular seasons, in addition to weddings and other special occasions. As most of her work was done in exchange for payment in installments she often had to turn “water into wine” or “tun han mek fashion”, as despite sometimes bare cupboards, and empty bankras, she miraculously always found meals for her children each day. One can recall days when she would send Herbon and me to collect for jobs done, only for us to return empty handed, and she would jump into the garden and find items to make pepper pot soup so we would never go to bed hungry. Or when she would make “tie-a-leaf” or “blue drawers” that we would carry to school for lunch. We never knew it then, but she was a master money manager, especially in the lean years when Papa was out of work in England and her customers had difficulty paying on their accounts – she would run a tab with Trevor or Mass Country, the village grocers, and pay in due course.

As a mother, Mama was a nurturer and a strict disciplinarian. She never “spared the rod” but her tender care was always present, and seen especially when you had that stubborn sore that wouldn’t heal or that tooth ache that wouldn’t go away, although you did all she told you to do. Then she would do exactly all you had been doing but with so much love and care, and they would get better. She always served her own meals last, after ensuring we all had sufficient…and somehow, magically, hers always tasted so much better than ours – was it because she crushed her food in the gravy in the Dutch pot or the extra love she gave us with each morsel?

There was no question about whether or not we’d attend school, rain or shine, and she always said that’s all she and Papa had to give us, there was going to be no “dead-lef” for us! We had daily and weekly chores to perform – from sweeping the yard and cleaning and dusting the house, to finding firewood and tending the animals in Pigeon Gully.

We lived in the center of the village – immediately in front of our house was the village bar, and grocery. In our growing up years, there was also a wholesale and haberdashery operated by Jamaicans of Chinese descent. Berkshire was where everyone from surrounding districts came for everything – business and pleasure. Whilst our friends could hop onto the trucks, play dominoes or the juke box at the shop, frolic in the nearby Great River, or engage in all the fun things that children did, in our spare time we had to read, play with toys we made ourselves, or look out from under a huge cedar tree that grew in our yard, a few meters away from the road. If we defied Mama’s rule, we’d face the switch, or at least, a threat that she’d write and tell Tailor in England about our misbehavior – something that would make us straighten up and fly right. We never wanted to be on Papa’s bad side.

Mama also taught us the value of honesty, hard work, of being satisfied with what we had and not envying anyone, of the importance of respect for our elders, of having good manners, of common decency; old fashion values that we have sought to pass on to our own children.

Mama was a kind, giving person---willingly sharing the little she had with neighbors and church family.

Undoubtedly, Mama was the kind of person that King Solomon referred to as a virtuous woman: “Her worth is far above rubies”, he wrote. “A noble, capable wife, a woman of strength, moral goodness, and resolution”. Papa spent 8 years in England away from her, and she remained a faithful and loyal wife and mother. She joined him there for about 3 years during his second stint, and it made such a wonderful difference to her outlook and life.

Mama had a bearing that not only showed respect for others but in a quiet way, earned the respect of persons as well. As I said earlier, we lived in the center of the district---many times domino games or a little too much rum could lead to brawls and the use of a lot of colorful worlds. And the men involved would go quiet or would noticeably tone-down once they see Mama coming down the hill---maybe just going to make a purchase at the shop.

Her most enduring quality, and what she is most known and respected for, however, was her unshakable faith. Everything Mama did, stood for, or spoke about was undergirded by her strong belief in God. She was raised Anglican, but she later got baptized in the Church of God on condition that she wouldn’t transfer her membership from the Anglican Church where she was an active choir member and Leading Mother. She was godmother to many and provided sterling support to the ministry of the church through her good works and evangelism. She endeavored to raise her children in her faith---Sunday School and Service were obligatory, and as adults, we’re all believers. As Proverbs 22:6 (ESV) exhorts, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

After Papa’s death in 2000, Mama went to live with brother Jim and attended the Baptist church in Dundee. And still later, when she was living in Anchovy, St. James, with our youngest sister, Janet who predeceased her, she became a Seventh Day Adventist whilst refusing to be re-baptized. She insisted it was “one God, one faith, one baptism” and they eventually acquiesced. But she was, in the strictest sense, non-denominational---a Christian first and foremost. And she never got tired of sharing her faith and encouraging persons with whom she came into contact.

Life changes took Mama to live with me and my family in Kingston in 2013, and with Lorna and her husband, Cuthbert in Ft. Myers, Florida, in 2018. Even though she was less physically active, she remained a prayer warrior, and a zealous evangelist.

When I visited her in Ft Myers in January after she had begun to grow ill, she remarked how thankful she was that God had not only spared her life but had also blessed her with a sound mind. She lost her sight but not her vision or her faith. Brother Jim reminded me that she believed in the declaration of Paul in Romans 9:25-26; “I shall pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”

Even at 102 and a half, it’s hard to let her go but again, Jim shared that mama’s life is reflected in the words of Paul in his 2nd Letter to Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only for me, but also all who have longed for his appearing.”

Services will take place on Tuesday, August 27th, 2024 at Hodges Funeral Home at Lee Memorial Park (12777 FL-82 Fort Myers, FL 33913) with a Visitation from 10:00am-11:00am and a Funeral Service at 11:00am. A Repass will follow at New Life Assembly Church (5146 Leonard Blvd S. Lehigh Acres, FL 33973).

Finally, we mourn her passing but we do not mourn like those who have no hope. We look forward to joining her and our other ancestors in time to come. We celebrate her life and thank God for the time and the trove of pleasant memories we had with her.

Mourning and celebrating with gratitude are:

Children: Stanley, (Euphemia – deceased), Joyce, Jim, Devon, Delbert, Lorna, Hecton, Herbon, Janet (deceased).

Grand children: Claudette, Phillip, Elaine, Marie, Karen, Dwight, Christopher, Gail, Nichola, Leslie, Anastasia, Brian, Gary, Godfrey, Glenroy, O’Brien, Davia, Kevin, Trudi-Ann, Jason, Dwayne, Indra, Darwin, Wanda, Ruth-Ann.

32 Great Grand Children and 2 Great, Great Grandchildren, several nieces, nephews and other relatives and friends.

May her soul Rest in Peace and Light perpetual shine on her.