A century to celebrate

WESTERN BUREAU:

Looming rain clouds and strong winds were not enough to dampen the party spirit in Goodwill, St James, on Sunday, as relatives and friends came together to celebrate the 100th birthday of Adele Warner, the family’s matriarch, two days ahead of her actual Tuesday, August 18 birth date.

Despite occasionally suffering from joint pains and contending with high blood pressure, Warner expressed gratitude for reaching her enviable centenarian milestone surrounded by her loved ones, against a musical backdrop featuring songs such as Kool and the Gang’s Celebrate and other birthday-related songs.

“I feel very good, and I feel very proud. I really cannot believe it, but I have seen what everyone has done, and the way they talk about me, I am proud of it. I feel a little pain, but I do not really fret on it, and, instead, I accept that I am able to move,” Warner told The Gleaner.

“Sometimes I will sit and remember the names of my schoolmates, the names of my friends, and the names of all those who I grew up with. Most of them are gone, but I still take it as a blessing for me to still be around,” she added.

Warner was born on August 18, 1926 in Dumfries, St James, the oldest of five children of her parents, Uriah Ellis and Regina Reid. She grew up in the Mount Pleasant community before eventually relocating to Goodwill. During her formative years, she attended Bethtephil Baptist Church in neighbouring Chatham.

In 1952, at the age of 26, she married Calder Warner, now deceased, and together they raised six children. The family would later grow to include 40 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren.

In addition to being a housewife, Warner raised chickens and sold eggs, naseberries, oranges, coconuts and cassava-based starch at the Falmouth market in Trelawny to support her family. During her later years, she went to Canada and completed a course in home healthcare, following which she was employed caring for newborns in homes until she eventually retired.

Hard work

Daughter Carol Warner recalled how her mother instilled the value of hard work in all her children while they were growing up.

“It was good growing up with her, and the way she cared for us stands out for me. We had to do our chores – clean the house, cut the yard, tie the tobacco, wash naseberries, and pick pimentos, but she provided for us the best way she knew how,” said the younger Warner.

Meanwhile, Adele Warner urged her younger relatives and succeeding generations to stay close to God in all things.

“What I would advise each one to do is to continue to love the Lord, always be generous, respectful, and also be humble in all their undertakings, and to have hope. In every moment, give thanks to the Lord, because He is awesome and He is able,” said Warner.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com