Reflections on the life of Ms. Willieen Jowers
A host of admirers, friends and relatives attended two days of memorial services on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3 for Ms. Willieen Jowers at Brooklyn’s John’s Funeral Home (509 Liberty Ave.) She transitioned onto the ancestral realm on Oct. 25, at 92 years-young.
Although she resided in Brooklyn for several decades, she was born Oct. 18 1931 in Cameron, South Carolina, and migrated to northern New Jersey in 1943 with her father William, mother Ola, brother Jabo, and sister Marion. The following year they crossed the Hudson River and settled in Harlem. She attended Murry Bergtraum High School, and later relocated to Brooklyn’s Bedford Stuyvesant section. Mother Earth, as she was also known, had four children—Pauline, Clarence (A Allah), Otis (B Allah), and Harold—as well as “her own child,” Crystal Charles.
During the Nov. 2 memorial many mentioned Willieen’s sense of humor and sarcasm, love for her community and family, and how she enjoyed advising local youths. People who knew her also remembered how outspoken she was and that she didn’t have a problem with letting anyone know what’s on her mind. When someone needed a place to rest, she always welcomed them with open arms.
One of her great-granddaughters reflected on some memories they shared together, then read a touching poem dedicated to “the Matriarch of the family.” Her grandnephew added: “She told me, ‘Always love yourself, because nobody will love you the way you’ll love yourself.’”
“I’m going to miss my great-grandmother,” one of her great-grandsons said. “There’s so many memories I could share. She really took care of me as a child, and I really do appreciate that. I’ll never forget her. Grandma, I just wanna say I love you.”
He later read her obituary, after several other relatives also paid their respects.
The following morning a brief service was conducted prior to her body being interred at New Jersey’s Rosehill Cemetery.
The post Reflections on the life of Ms. Willieen Jowers appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.