Mavis Frankson

Today we gather to honour, remember and show love to the life of our dear Mavis; a person whose life meant so much to so many, and whose presence had changed so many lives, in so many ways. Mavis, lovingly known as May or May May was born on March 22nd, 1927, in the town of Salem, St. Anns Bay, Jamaica, to Sarah Clarke and Rafael Murray; she was one of 13 Murray children and one of three Clarke children. Mavis attended Hoolbury school in Salem from the age of 7 until the age of 15; she later went to work with her mother at the age of 16. Mavis became a mother at 19 to the first of three daughters; Merline who was born in Jamaica, and her last two, Chyril and Charmaine who were both born in London, England. Mavis and her fiance Wally Frankson immigrated to England in 1957, where they wed on May 4th, and also welcomed their daughter Chryil Christine AKA Chris into the world that October.

Mavis was always a very hard worker, she worked in a paper mill, a sugar factory where they turned brown sugar white, and also as a seamstress before embarking on her illustrious nursing career. Somewhere in her busy schedule, she had the pleasure of bringing her third and final daughter Charmaine AKA washbelly to meet the rest of the family. We’re not quite sure when or where she started her nursing training, but we believe it was at Whipps Cross hospital, in Leyton Stone,London. She worked at East Ham hospital in East London; she also worked at Hackney hospital in Hackney, London in 1973 where she was doing her midwifery refresher course

Mavis immigrated to the United States on August 31, 1968, followed by her husband and two youngest children that October. She worked in several hospitals throughout the New York area. She started at Beth Israel hospital in Manhattan and finished her career some 40 something years later, including a brief three year return to England before retiring as a rehab nurse from Kings County hospital in Brooklyn.

Although she was a nurse for many years, Mavis attended Medgar Evers College in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, where she graduated as the eldest person in her graduating class, with her Bachelors in Nursing degree at the age of 76. Mavis was loved as a nurse, a mother, a grandmother, a sister, an aunt and a friend. She was left behind by her husband and her daughter Chris and several of her friends and siblings.

She leaves behind her daughters Merline and Charmaine, her grandchildren Jade-Simone, Alexander, Somali, Alexcia, Aleicia, Armonie and Amahrei; great grandchildren, Darrien, Kai-Lah, Serenity, Aurora, Ahmeir, Azariah, KJ and Anisha; great-great granddaughter Miyoko and her only living sibling, her little sister Adel, several nieces and nephews and a few friends, who all loved her dearly and will miss her immensely.

A visitation will be held on January 17, 2026, from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm at Forest Lawn Funeral Home, located at 2401 Southwest 64th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33317.

The funeral service will follow on the same day, January 17, 2026, from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm at the same location.