Estella Sharpe - Tashieka Mair

WESTERN BUREAU

In a time when people are being killed daily and not many people live beyond their youth, Estella Arorah Sharpe is happy to have reached her century on February 17 this year.

The centenarian who was born in Dalmally, Hanover, was not in a talkative mood when THE STAR visited her in Westgate, St James. However, her son, the Reverend Heckford Sharpe recalled that his mother was a disciplinarian who ensured that her 12 children, six girls and six boys, received the best education and encouraged them to help each other.

various skills

"We had to conform to all the rules and we had to be home at a certain time and she ensured that we went to school and got education up to a certain level," Rev Sharpe said. "When we got older some of us were sent to learn various skills."

After World War II, Mrs Sharpe sent her first son to England and told him to work and assist his other siblings to join him. Her plan was successful and five of her children now live in England and Canada.

good health

At 100, she enjoys good health and has outlived six of her children. This matriarch of the Sharpe family has 41 grandchildren, 60 great grand children and seven great great grandchildren.

Sharpe was born to parents Edward Martin and Rebecca Daley, a Barbadian. After her mother's death she was sent to live with a family friend in Claremont, Hanover. She lived there until she met her late husband, Edward Augustus Sharpe, a farmer. She worked as a milliner and was assisted by her children who sold her hats at the market.

She is a member and a devout Christian of the Mount Moriah Baptist Church.