Pearl Iona Boyce

PEARL IONA BABB-BOYCE was born on April 15, 1926 in Havana, Cuba to Osborne and Beryl Babb; she was the third of their four children. Her father a Motor Mechanic for the Ford Motor Company travelled with Beryl to Peru where their fourth child was born. In 1931, the family returned to Barbados, but Osborne’s work took him to British Guyana and the family remained in Barbados.

Pearl enjoyed many years living in Barbados with her brothers and sister. After her father’s death, her mother Beryl left her children in the care of Ga, Pearl’s grandmother and she moved to Trinidad to work and support her family. Pearl was a good student, she loved math, enjoyed playing pranks with her brothers and sister and being a mischievous child.

Pearl finished school and joined the workforce, she worked in Retail as a Sales Clerk at Harrison Department store, Tots and Teens and Matouk Department store. Pearl’s ambitious nature and mathematical ability was rewarded with a supervisory position. During her late twenties, Pearl met and married Victor Carlisle Boyce. That thirty-seven-year marriage produced three children, Jeanette, Gerald and André. Pearl was a devoted wife and mother. As the family prospered in the little island of Barbados, both Pearl and Victor were concerned about the future of their children. First, Victor went to England to study, and then when he returned in 1961, Pearl enrolled in the Apex Beauty School in New York to study Cosmetology. Pearl and Victor built a lovely home in Barbados, however, in 1963, Pearl and her husband decided to move their family to the United States. The opportunity presented itself for Cuban Nationals to gain entry into the United States as legal residents under the Bay of Pigs during John F. Kennedy’s administration. When Pearl returned to the United States, she landed a job with Manufacturers Hanover Trust Bank where she worked from 1963 until retirement in 1987; she retired as a VP in the Check Processing Department. At her retirement, Pearl and Victor divorced and she moved to Orlando Florida bringing her mother with her.

Pearl started her new life in Orlando as a devoted Rosicrucian, a divorcee and a happy retiree. She cared for her mother until her death in 1996. Pearl enjoyed travelling with her Rosicrucian family, her dear friend Norma, and spending time with her many friends in Orlando, she enjoyed her life with her grand children Christine and Ashia.

Her sons Gerald and André predecease Pearl. She is survived by her devoted daughter Jeanette McPherson, sister friend and daughter Norma Beasley, devoted daughter in-law Joy Church-Boyce, and favorite son-in-law James Darryl Smith.

Grandchildren: Christine McPherson-Smith, Ashia Boyce.

Great grandchild: Celina Morgan Smith.

Cousins: Gloria and Anne Gardner, Norma Palmer.

A host of family including nieces, nephews, in-laws, sister Friends and Rosicrucian family who will all miss Pearl very much.