Mary Rose Williams

Mary Rose Williams – known as Rose to her family and friends- was the fifth member of the clan headed by Martin Wellesley and Matilda Anderson. She was born on April 11, 1927 in Richmond, in the parish of Manchester, Jamaica, and attended Spalding Government School where she was an all-round high achiever. At that early stage in her life she was always the leader, the challenger, the encourager and the competitor who urged her team to excel in intramural competitions. Whatever was being taught at school she was good at it: the academics, elocution, arts, needlework, cooking and home management.

From childhood she aspired to be a nurse and she exhibited nursing traits when she was always the first person to attend to a younger sibling or pets who had a bruise or a cut. Her first opportunity came when at age 18 after completing both elementary and post-elementary private tuition she qualified to enter the Government training program that began at the Percy Junor Hospital in Spalding. At the end of the year the program continued at Kingston Public Hospital, where after three more years she graduated at the top of her class of 52, and earned her certificate as a Registered Nurse. But Rose, ever the person to see the next step ahead applied for further training in midwifery. Again, she graduated at the top of her class, and she set her eyes on Public Health. She was accepted into the program and graduated at the top of her class.

Rose put together all of her training to work as a Public Health nurse, first in Trelawny and later in the parish of St. Ann. She was known for her warm spirit, exceptional nursing skills and compassionate care especially for people who were poor and uneducated.

When Rose was in nursing school in Kingston she came in contact with the Seventh Day Adventist Church, largely through the efforts of her older sister the late Maisie Henry, and soon she was baptized and became a member of the fellowship. It changed the trajectory of her life. It changed her lifestyle and seemed to be the big motivator in her life. That new dimension to her life was the primary factor that brought her and the late Ralphas Williams together. They dated for a year and on March 17, 1957 they got married in Mandeville, Manchester. They migrated to the United States in 1958. She rekindled her lust for learning and both she and Ralph entered the Atlantic Union College in Massachusetts where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in nursing. They moved to Connecticut where Rose worked as a nurse. It was there that their two sons, Donn and Paul were born. In Hartford, while working at St. Francis Hospital she enrolled at the University of Hartford and earned her Master’s Degree in Education. She had thought that the school environment would be a good place to practice her nursing skills but she discovered that the pull for a wider and deeper environment was too strong. She and her husband took a call to Florida where they became the first black directors at Florida Hospital; Ralph became the director of Social Services and she became the director of nurses for Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Delivery. Subsequently, she enrolled at Loma Linda University from which she received her Master’s Degree in Public Health.

Friends, family, administration and surviving patients or their relatives will long remember the outstanding work she did as Director of Nursing at the Guardian Care and Rehabilitation Center- where she worked until her retirement. After a year, she raised the institution from a low standing to the highest and maintained that standard for the rest of the time she was there. Rose loved nursing; it was her pride and passion. She made it her obligation to bring honor to the profession by always performing at the highest level of professional skills, etiquette, morality and transparency.

Next to family and profession was her obligation to her church. She was an ardent church worker, taking part in just about everything her hands could touch. It was amazing the love she found working with the cradle roll. However burdensome her work week was, she would find time to prepare adequately for those youngsters. She sang with the choir; she provided food for church potlucks and she never missed a church outing. She was ordained an Elder in 2001 and participated in home and hospital visitation, informal counselling and playing the piano for Sabbath School.

Rose had a good, long, full and prosperous life. She had a happy marriage of 44 years with the love of her life until he predeceased her in 2000. She travelled to many countries, and summer cruises were a regular feature for her. She enjoyed her two sons, and nothing brought her greater joy than having any or all of her four grandchildren with her. She had a multitude of friends with whom she kept contact until her failing years. There are many people who have some special memory of her as they recall something significant at a particular time in their lives when Rose was present for them.

And so, we say goodbye to her with the highest encomium possible, borrowing the words of our Lord himself, “She [did] what she could”.

Rose is survived by her two sons; Donn and Paul, their wives Mayra and Lanu, Donn’s children, Alexus and Allexx , and Paul’s children, Christian and Maya. Her surviving siblings are; Daphne in Kingston, Jamaica; Fred in Hamden, Connecticut; Donald in Montego Bay, Jamaica; and Etta in Boston; as well as nephews, nieces and in-laws who were dear to her.

Mary Rose Anderson Williams, Requiescat in pace!