Expressing Our Gratitude for Your Support During Our Time of Bereavement

By Neil Armstrong 

The 'Eider Road Posse' from Ensom City, Spanish Town at the Celebration of Life for my mother, Delores Armstrong on March 19, 2022 in Brampton, Ontario.

On behalf of my family, thank you for sharing in the Celebration of Life service held for my mother, Delores Armstrong, fondly known as Dell or Ms. Dell, on March 19, 2022 at the Brampton Funeral Home & Cemetery. Thank you for your condolences and the stories and memories you shared over the past few weeks.

 

We want to thank our family here in Canada, in Jamaica, the United States, the UK and elsewhere, especially my aunts — Gwen (Gigi), Pat, Elaine, Clyte, Ula (June) and Melesa (Lesa).

 

Thanks Uncle Lloyd, my sister-in-law Miranda, my nieces and nephews: Deja, Breanna, Jordan and Nathan, cousins: Juliette and her family, especially 10-year-old Leah (who wrote and recited her poem in tribute to Aunty Dell), Andrea (Nicky), Karen and her family, Dale and his family, Michelle and her family, Steve, Kevin and his family, Andrew and his family, Myrna and her family in the UK, and Avis in Malta.

 

Thanks to Ms. Dell — my mother’s best friend, Delores Barnes — who lives in Florida and was represented by her granddaughter, Natasha who flew in to join us from North Carolina. Thanks Odete, Lance and Gail for all the love you showed my mother.

 

We extend a special thanks to members of the original ‘Eider Road Posse’ who have travelled from across North America to be here: Ms. Ethlyn and her children, Ann and Paul; Andrea, Lasandra, Jean and Andrew,  Shaun, Debbie, Petal, Tony, Sonia and Lance, Christopher, and Robert. They journeyed from Virginia, New York, Georgia, Massachusetts, South Florida, Maryland, Jamaica and Ajax, Ontario to be with us. And we have heard from other members of the Eider Road family and the wider Ensom City fraternity who could not be with us in person but remain very supportive: Mrs. Lawson, Mrs. Fender, Ms. Prendergast, Ms. Maureen, Michelle, Rohan, Ewart, Junior, and The Chapman sisters: Rose, Pat, Sonia, Sharon and Burneata.

 

Thank you to friends of my sister in the US who became an extended family to us: Zandrine Magloire and her family, LaVonnie, Elaine, Ruth, Cora, and Fitzroy Matthews who prayed with us and Dell in the last remaining minutes of her life.

A family shot at the repast

 

The Petrojam group has been a strong support to my father, Air Canada did the same for my brother, Andrew, and I am thankful for the support of the RJRGleaner Group, the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP), and Alzheimer Society Peel. 

 

Thanks to Central Park Baptist Church for its unwavering support, especially Pastor Soedi Antonie; the Palliative Care Team at Brampton Civic Hospital, the oncologists, and all those who made my mother as comfortable as possible over the last nine weeks of her life.

 

 

Family at the repast after the Celebration of Life service and the burial

Thank you, Itah Sadu of A Different Booklist Cultural Centre: The People’s Residence for all your love and support, and to Abena Perryman of Andrew Perry for designing the funeral program with so much creativity.

 

Thanks to all of my friends who have reached out to us over the past couple weeks.

More family pics from the repast

 

Thanks to the staff of Brampton Funeral Home and Cemetery for their assistance in making everything happen so smoothly. Four years ago, when I came to the funeral home with my parents to make their funeral arrangements, I did not realize that at least one of them would be no longer with me on March 4, 2022. 

Longtime friends at the repast/reception

 

I’ve left the biggest THANK YOU to my sister, Sharon, who although she lives in the Bronx was always in tune with the health needs of Dell. From she came to visit on December 20, she hasn’t left. She was committed to providing Dell with all the help and comfort that she needed. THANK YOU, Sharon, and also to Blue, Andrew and Duke for being a part of Dell’s strong support network.

My mother, Delores Armstrong, was laid to rest on March 19, 2022 in Brampton, Ontario, Canada

EULOGY for Delores Armstrong presented at a Celebration of Her Life on March 19, 2022 at Brampton Funeral Home & Cemetery by Neil Armstrong

 

 

My mother, Delores Armstrong, was from humble beginnings and would have thought this is too much fuss about her today, but we are here to honour her by celebrating her life. We — my siblings and I — called her Dell, the name we heard our father fondly calling her. She was known by many as ‘Miss Dell’ — her beloved nieces and nephews called her Aunty Dell — to her grandchildren, Deja and Jordan, she was simply Grandma.

 

Dell, 79, was born on September 15, 1942 to Florence and James Scarlett in Lower Buxton, in the garden parish of St. Ann, Jamaica. She died on March 4, 2022 in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. I think she was destined to love colours because her mother’s maiden name was ‘Green,’ her father’s surname “Scarlett’ and she met my father, Henry Armstrong, whose nickname is ‘Blue.’ All of this helps me to weave an intimate tapestry of her life in this tribute to her.

 

She attended Lower Buxton Elementary School, and upon finishing she became a class monitor and received one-on-one instruction from her teacher — she was the apple of her teacher’s eye. She excelled in home economics. It was in Kingston that she was taught dressmaking by Miss Fraser, now deceased, — the mother of her lifelong friend, Delores Barnes, who resides in Florida — and she eventually became a dressmaker and a stay-at-home mother. Working from home also meant that she saw the opportunity to engage in something else that she loved — taking care of children — she was a popular babysitter. That love continued when we immigrated to Canada.

 

In 1960, Dell met Henry in Kingston where she had relocated to help her sister, Lurline. They subsequently had three children: Sharon, Neil and Andrew and eventually moved to Eider Road in Ensom City, Spanish Town in 1973. Walton (Mark) Campbell, her first child, and Duke, Henry’s son would eventually join us there. On June 26, 1982, the couple were married in St. Andrew.

 

Dell was kind, compassionate, humble, hospitable, and always willing to lend a helping hand in any way she could. Needless to say, our home was a welcoming place for many relatives and friends. Eider Road was where she shone in our immediate family and the extended family as we called the Eider Road Posse. It was on this road that communal baking skills were showcased, where we celebrated and mourned together, where many of us as children got ready on a Sunday to attend Ensom City Gospel Chapel. It was also where New Year’s Eve street parties or annual Labour Day projects happened and Dell was always involved. Some members of the Eider Road family have travelled long distances to be here today to honour her and we thank them.

 

She taught us compassion by demonstrating it; there were times I would see her crying and ask her what was wrong. Her answer surprised me — she was thinking of the hardship a family member or friend was experiencing in Jamaica and she offered whatever help she could from here. She gave and many times lent money wherever she could. Whenever I heard her expression — “Poor so and so” — I knew she was thinking about the situation of someone she cared about in Jamaica or here. She demonstrated love and kindness by her deeds and never sought to make a public display of her actions.

 

She was a storyteller and someone who made people laugh at any moment. Her stories about life in Lower Buxton, in Kingston, or Spanish Town would have us in stitches. We would hear the stories of how at one time her father planted everything that we ate – sweet potatoes, yam, pumpkin, whatever ground provision you knew, he planted it – how her mother was a kind and patient woman, and about the childhood pranks Dell played on her siblings. At home here in Brampton, she was humorous and always found African movies or gospel groups to watch and sing along to on her tablet, or word search puzzles when not cooking or gardening. We would join her sometimes to try to harmonize in the singing. Her sisters — my aunts Ula (June) and Melesa (Lesa) — reminded me that wherever she was, there was always food, and Dell believed in cooking more than for her family. If anyone stopped by, there was something to offer.

 

She was loved by her family and friends, and that was recently demonstrated when Gail Lywood — a child Dell babysat, and the daughter of family friends, Odete and Lance Lywood — who is studying to be a nurse, came to visit her wearing her nurse uniform and brought her stethoscope to check Dell’s vitals.

 

Dell is predeceased by her parents, her sisters — Norma (Pam), Lurline (Lizzy), Esmeridina (Esmie) and Sarah — and her brother Arthur (Brother Tan Tan).

 

We miss her dearly and thank God that he placed her in our lives — a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, sister-in-law, friend to many, and such a jovial person. We will miss her laughter and how she could easily find those moments to lift our spirit. Every time I look out in the backyard garden and see the roses blooming, I will think of her, especially the pink one that my brother, Andrew, bought her and she loved the Rose of Sharon.

 

 THANK YOU to all of you for attending today’s service to help us honour her, especially those of you who have travelled from afar. Thank you for the support from our family, here and abroad, who continue to lift us up in prayer and visits in this difficult period.

 

Dell is no longer here with us but we will cherish all the memories we have of her. 

 

Yes, I am guilty of making a fuss about my mother today, but she deserves every accolade and commendation. This is my final salute to her.

 

Rest well, Dell, and walk good. 

 

You are at peace and no longer in pain. We will miss you dearly.