Cheers to Una: Celebration of a century

St James resident Una Meritha Boyce is the newest member of an exclusive but growing centenarian club.

And as she marked the milestone with those closest to her, the mother of three — who is also a grandmother and great-grandmother — was dressed in a radiant red dress and a matching derby fascinator – a picture of grace and joy.

The celebration was full of laughter as President Dame Sandra Mason, who paid a special visit to the island’s newest centenarian, gave Boyce with a birthday card and raised her glass in a toast of the 100th birthday.

Addressing the gathering, her son Luton Goodman disclosed that it “was not an easy road” for his mother. He said she was raised by her aunt who did an “admirable job” after she lost her mother when she was 22 months old, and soon after her father emigrated to Cuba.

Boyce, who is also the mother of Angela Farell and Veldene Waithe, lived in Western, St James all her life and is a founding member of the New Testament Church of God located in Western.  

Centenarian Una Boyce takes a close look at the birthday card received from President Dame Sandra Mason.

“As a Christian, she was very strict. So much so that up to this day, I can’t play dominoes or cards because in her thinking that would lead me to be a gambler. So, that was a no-no,” Goodman disclosed, evoking laughter from those gathered. “She never spared the rod.”

He said his mother was a hard worker in her youth.

“My mother worked in the tourist industry all her life. She worked at guest houses – we call them villas now – and then she moved on to Discovery Bay and she worked till the end of her working career, which I think was 1989. But she enjoyed her job and she would go to the garden and pick flowers and put them in the guest’s room and so on,” Goodman reminisced.

He pointed out that there were two things that stood out the most in his memory of things his mother taught him.

“She says, ‘when you see people flying, you don’t know who wings they’re flying with’. And secondly, ‘do what is right because you don’t have to look over your shoulder as you walk along’, and I passed it on to my son,” Goodman said. 

“So, all in all, my mother did her best with the little that she had . . . . She was a good mother . . .  and we appreciate her,” he added before other family members paid tribute to Boyce.

From left: Angela Farrell, Luton Goodman, and Veldene Waithe were all smiles as they celebrated their mother’s 100th birthday.

Dame Sandra urged the family to document the stories that Boyce shares as the people of her era are the “real historians”.   

She added: “We read things sometimes that are made up but these are the real historians. She would have lived through the World War. She would have also lived through the so-called riots in Barbados . . . and I mean, just generally how things were in her day. Especially for the young people who take all the materialised things of life for granted, they need to know. You talk about the smart life, you know, you gotta explain what it’s all about. 

“The young people need to know how privileged they are, whether it’s those material things or even if it’s a question of education . . . that they take for granted.” (FW)