Features

Jerrelden Beckford still going on

By Marlene Mcpherson, Star Writer

ONE-HUNDRED-AND-three-year-old Jerrelden Beckford lives alone in Rowlandsfield, St. Thomas, yet, she is unafraid and is contented.

ONE-HUNDRED-AND-three-year-old Jerrelden Beckford lives alone in Rowlandsfield, St. Thomas, yet, she is unafraid and is contented. She is also humorous, well spoken and has good memory. "I was born on December 25, 1900. It was on Friday and I am from Kingston," she says.

Though she is confined to her home because of poor eyesight, the disability is hardly a hindrance.

According to Beckford her mother was Lillian Geddes Grant, a domestic worker, and her father was William Grant, a carpenter. She is the only one alive of 10 siblings.

The centenarian says her husband, Samuel, and her five children, all girls, are deceased. None of the children were for her husband.

Jerrelden attended the Ebenezer School in St. Thomas then moved on to Bell Castle, another school in Portland.

Memories

She recalled that her mother prepared her for the world of work after she left school. "My mother sent me to learn dressmaking with Miss Walters at 17 Oxford Street," she said, adding that she learnt the trade for a year. "I made shirts, dresses, underpants and even Miss Smikley's wedding dress."

She attributes her longevity to her mother. "My mother cared me and told me about Christ," she said. She pointed out that she had a role to play too. "I care my body, and eat good food like porridge, soup, and use a lot of garlic," she claimed.

Mrs. Beckford is the oldest member of the African Methodist Episcopalian Church (AME)

within the community of Rowlandsfield.

She chided THE WEEKEND STAR for thinking that she was afraid and lonely and reassured us that she is all right. "I trust in God," she affirmed.