Gloria E. Howell

Born in Harlem, New York City, on October 8, 1923 to Victor and Madeline Harris, they named her Gloria Elaine. Gloria was the third of five children. A few years after Gloria's birth, the family moved to Kingston, Jamaica, land of her parents' birth and there Gloria spent her childhood. She was a happy, outgoing and popular child with an adventurous spirit. After completing elementary at St. George's, she trained as a hairdresser and thereafter entered that trade. In 1944, she married Leopold Sherwood.

Following her separation from Leo, she traveled to New York to start a new life. There she met and married Jerome Howell, a native of Panama. She and Jerry were among the first in the great migration of Harlem apartment dwellers to their own homes in Crown Height, Brooklyn. In Brooklyn, she established her own beauty shop where she employed others in the trade. She left the trade for health reasons in the early 1970s and became a nurse's aide. During that time she returned to school to complete her high school education.

In the later 1980' she purchased a home in Florida and retired. Ever the life of the party, she formed a circle of friends who met regularly to dance, play games, enjoy each other's company and make travel plans. She also became active in her church.

She will be remembered for her bright personality, buoyant spirit and commitment as a mother, sister, grandmother and aunt. She is survived by her sons, Peter Sherwood of New York and Kevin Howell of Florida; sister, Marjorie Harris of Florida; grandchildren Nicole, Isaiah, Damien, Jeremy and Shon; daughters-in-law, Ruby and Antoinette and many nephews, nieces, and grandnephews and grandnieces.