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Funeral Service #2: Southfield Church
Monday, May 03, 2004
On Sunday, May 2, there were two funeral services for Aunt Kitty. The first was at the University church in Mandeville, and the second at the Southfield SDA Church in St. Elizabeth. They are shown on two separate web pages (May 2 and May 3) for your convenience, since a single page with all the photos would be very large.
We left the University Church after the first service, and headed for St. Elizabeth. We were provided with a police escort all the way from the University campus to the Southfield SDA Church, Aunt Kitty's childhood place of worship.
We were part of a small motorcade, including another bus with faculty members and other well-wishers.
We arrived at the Southfield church at about 2:25 p.m. It was a beautiful day, clear and comfortable.
Johan Haakmat and Sheri Townsend helped Myrnelle Haig and others off the bus. In fact, I believe Sheri even gave me a hand as I got off. Not something you see everyday. Wish I'd taken a photo of that.
Freda Broomfield, Myrnelle, and Iralyn Trott made some last-minute adjustments to Aunt Kitty, all faithfully recorded on video for posterity by Bryan Johnson (affectionately known as "Johnno") from the University's Media Services Department.
Everyone was ready for the 3:00 p.m. start of this second service. Pretty somber, as you can understand.
Pastor Earl Bailey, pastor of the Southfield Church, led the processional.
Also in the platform party: Pastor Orville Parchment, Aunt Kitty's nephew; Pastor Balvin Braham, President of the West Jamaica Conference of SDA; Mr. Vaughn Parchment, Aunt Kitty's cousin and an elder of the Southfield Church; and Mr. McDavid Lloyd, also a Southfield elder. Look at the painting just above Vaughn Parchment's head. More on that later.
We stood and sang "Under His Wings" as the opening song. Although Aunt Kitty lived an hour away in Mandeville, she visited this church whenever she could, and many of its members had known her since their childhood.
Even though many choir members were unavailable, the church choir was determined to sing for Aunt Kitty. They were directed by A. Vivienne Hayles, with church elder Delano Wellington accompanying.
Vaughn Parchment gave his tribute to Aunt Kitty, remembering her kindness to him and her care for the church and its members.
They got this guy to sing again. And he sang the same song as at the University service, much to his wife's chagrin. Well, I figured most of the people in the second service wouldn't have heard it, right? And the first time would serve as practice for the second, right?. Oh, well.
Pastor Orville Parchment gave us what he termed "an extension" of Dr. Fraser's message in the earlier service. He reminded us that the main thing in preparing for Heaven is a personal relationship with the Lord.
Then the pallbearers bore the casket out into the church's yard, where many of its saints have been laid to rest. On the left: Mr. McDavid Lloyd (hidden), Mr. Vaughn Parchment, and Mr. Javan Nation. On the right: Mr. Roy Brodie, Mr. Melford Thompson, and Mr. Berisford Henry. Javan was Aunt Kitty's grand-nephew. All the others were cousins.
They prepared to place the casket into its final resting place.
Waiting for final placement in the vault.
We sang "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" and "All the Way My Savior Leads Me." Melford looked solemn. He had known Aunt Kitty all his life.
Pastor Harold Campbell offered the prayer of committal...
..the men slid the casket into the vault...
...and there was the ritual of "ashes to ashes, dust to dust."
Then the mason began enclosing the casket in the vault. This was a tough time, because it seemed so final.
It was too much for Myrnelle. Iralyn tried to comfort her.
The mason poured the concrete to form the enclosure.
And "Johnno" got it all on video, as Pastor Braham watched in the foreground, with Pastor Meremoth Weir and Melford Thompson in the background.
So this was it; our final goodbyes to Aunt Kitty. She was resting right beside other members of her family, including her parents, two of her siblings, cousins, aunts, and others.
We got back into the bus and headed out. In the background you can see the original Southfield church building, where Aunt Kitty attended as a child, right beside the new church where the service had just been held.
This painting of the old structure hangs behind the pulpit in the current sanctuary. It's appropriate that we should be focusing on Aunt Kitty's childhood church, because we were now headed toward...
...her childhood home, just a few hundred yards from the church. I've previously identified just about everyone in this picture, so I won't do it again (see the archives, if you missed previous postings).
It was nostalgic for Erlinda, who had visited these grounds many times as a child. She shared some of her reminiscences with Johan Haakmat.
Orville made sure to capture it all on camera. He hadn't been here for many years, and commented on how small the house looked, compared to how big at had seemed to him as a child.
This shot of Sheri Townsend, Beverly Henry, Javan Nation and Erlinda in the living room gives you an idea of how small the house really was. I was standing in the front doorway, just a couple feet from them. You can see that the room was not very deep or wide, perhaps only 10' by 10' or so. Other rooms in the house were comparable, yet seven siblings, their parents, and sometimes other guests lived there. Behind Javan and Erlinda there's a picture of Aunt Kitty's parents.
All too soon, the shadows lengthened, and it was time for us to depart.
We boarded the bus to go. Iralyn got in, but it seemed as though Myrnelle just didn't want to leave. She took one last, fond look back.
On our way, we made one more stop, at Aunt Kitty's childhood school.
This was where she first displayed her high academic standards, consistently placing among the top three students.
Then it was back into the bus for the journey home.
It was dusk by the time we got back to Godfrey Lands in Mandeville.
In fact, as we walked in the door, this was the time that greeted us. It had been a full day, starting at 9:00 a.m.
But there was more. Javan had brought a letter that Aunt Kitty had written to his Mom, Beverly Nation, just a couple months ago, and he read it to us. It was like hearing Aunt Kitty's voice again.
And finally, it was time just to decompress. Iralyn and Jean reflected on the day. Even the lamp seemed to be bending in sympathy. It was over.
So goodbye, Aunt Kitty. We hope we've done you proud. We're glad we could be here to say our farewells, and we'll see you in the morning, when your smile will be even brighter.
And it will never fade.
We left the University Church after the first service, and headed for St. Elizabeth. We were provided with a police escort all the way from the University campus to the Southfield SDA Church, Aunt Kitty's childhood place of worship.
We were part of a small motorcade, including another bus with faculty members and other well-wishers.
We arrived at the Southfield church at about 2:25 p.m. It was a beautiful day, clear and comfortable.
Johan Haakmat and Sheri Townsend helped Myrnelle Haig and others off the bus. In fact, I believe Sheri even gave me a hand as I got off. Not something you see everyday. Wish I'd taken a photo of that.
Freda Broomfield, Myrnelle, and Iralyn Trott made some last-minute adjustments to Aunt Kitty, all faithfully recorded on video for posterity by Bryan Johnson (affectionately known as "Johnno") from the University's Media Services Department.
Everyone was ready for the 3:00 p.m. start of this second service. Pretty somber, as you can understand.
Pastor Earl Bailey, pastor of the Southfield Church, led the processional.
Also in the platform party: Pastor Orville Parchment, Aunt Kitty's nephew; Pastor Balvin Braham, President of the West Jamaica Conference of SDA; Mr. Vaughn Parchment, Aunt Kitty's cousin and an elder of the Southfield Church; and Mr. McDavid Lloyd, also a Southfield elder. Look at the painting just above Vaughn Parchment's head. More on that later.
We stood and sang "Under His Wings" as the opening song. Although Aunt Kitty lived an hour away in Mandeville, she visited this church whenever she could, and many of its members had known her since their childhood.
Even though many choir members were unavailable, the church choir was determined to sing for Aunt Kitty. They were directed by A. Vivienne Hayles, with church elder Delano Wellington accompanying.
Vaughn Parchment gave his tribute to Aunt Kitty, remembering her kindness to him and her care for the church and its members.
They got this guy to sing again. And he sang the same song as at the University service, much to his wife's chagrin. Well, I figured most of the people in the second service wouldn't have heard it, right? And the first time would serve as practice for the second, right?. Oh, well.
Pastor Orville Parchment gave us what he termed "an extension" of Dr. Fraser's message in the earlier service. He reminded us that the main thing in preparing for Heaven is a personal relationship with the Lord.
Then the pallbearers bore the casket out into the church's yard, where many of its saints have been laid to rest. On the left: Mr. McDavid Lloyd (hidden), Mr. Vaughn Parchment, and Mr. Javan Nation. On the right: Mr. Roy Brodie, Mr. Melford Thompson, and Mr. Berisford Henry. Javan was Aunt Kitty's grand-nephew. All the others were cousins.
They prepared to place the casket into its final resting place.
Waiting for final placement in the vault.
We sang "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" and "All the Way My Savior Leads Me." Melford looked solemn. He had known Aunt Kitty all his life.
Pastor Harold Campbell offered the prayer of committal...
..the men slid the casket into the vault...
...and there was the ritual of "ashes to ashes, dust to dust."
Then the mason began enclosing the casket in the vault. This was a tough time, because it seemed so final.
It was too much for Myrnelle. Iralyn tried to comfort her.
The mason poured the concrete to form the enclosure.
And "Johnno" got it all on video, as Pastor Braham watched in the foreground, with Pastor Meremoth Weir and Melford Thompson in the background.
So this was it; our final goodbyes to Aunt Kitty. She was resting right beside other members of her family, including her parents, two of her siblings, cousins, aunts, and others.
We got back into the bus and headed out. In the background you can see the original Southfield church building, where Aunt Kitty attended as a child, right beside the new church where the service had just been held.
This painting of the old structure hangs behind the pulpit in the current sanctuary. It's appropriate that we should be focusing on Aunt Kitty's childhood church, because we were now headed toward...
...her childhood home, just a few hundred yards from the church. I've previously identified just about everyone in this picture, so I won't do it again (see the archives, if you missed previous postings).
It was nostalgic for Erlinda, who had visited these grounds many times as a child. She shared some of her reminiscences with Johan Haakmat.
Orville made sure to capture it all on camera. He hadn't been here for many years, and commented on how small the house looked, compared to how big at had seemed to him as a child.
This shot of Sheri Townsend, Beverly Henry, Javan Nation and Erlinda in the living room gives you an idea of how small the house really was. I was standing in the front doorway, just a couple feet from them. You can see that the room was not very deep or wide, perhaps only 10' by 10' or so. Other rooms in the house were comparable, yet seven siblings, their parents, and sometimes other guests lived there. Behind Javan and Erlinda there's a picture of Aunt Kitty's parents.
All too soon, the shadows lengthened, and it was time for us to depart.
We boarded the bus to go. Iralyn got in, but it seemed as though Myrnelle just didn't want to leave. She took one last, fond look back.
On our way, we made one more stop, at Aunt Kitty's childhood school.
This was where she first displayed her high academic standards, consistently placing among the top three students.
Then it was back into the bus for the journey home.
It was dusk by the time we got back to Godfrey Lands in Mandeville.
In fact, as we walked in the door, this was the time that greeted us. It had been a full day, starting at 9:00 a.m.
But there was more. Javan had brought a letter that Aunt Kitty had written to his Mom, Beverly Nation, just a couple months ago, and he read it to us. It was like hearing Aunt Kitty's voice again.
And finally, it was time just to decompress. Iralyn and Jean reflected on the day. Even the lamp seemed to be bending in sympathy. It was over.
So goodbye, Aunt Kitty. We hope we've done you proud. We're glad we could be here to say our farewells, and we'll see you in the morning, when your smile will be even brighter.
And it will never fade.
