Our Tribute to Nana

RUBY EVADNE SHERWOOD JELLERETTE

February 20, 1906 - April 29, 2002

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Remembering Nana
By
Alexandra Jellerette-LeBlanc

There are many things I don’t remember about Nana.
How she must have looked first glancing at New York
Hair in a bun from Kingston.
How she must have thought, “how cold here up north”

I don’t remember her first look at Papa
They met and then their meeting was forever.
How she held her first son and then a second born.

I don’t remember what she said to my father
When Papa left for war
dressed in uniform, American flags
shielding his sleeves.
How she would secretly read my
father’s letters to his dad
and shake her head at such a foolish boy
while praying for peace.

I don’t remember how she made her first pot of rice and peas
Poured her first rum punch for her brother Charles
or arranged her first living room at 169th street.

I surely don’t remember her retiring to
visit Jamaica in the summers and
winters andn summers and winters again.

I only remember the short years that matched my own
a granddaughter of many that came before and would follow.
sitting first in the kitchen watching her cook
or in the back yard watching her garden
or waiting, restless for her presents wrapped up tight just for me

Then finally sitting with her at her bedside
when she would ask, “how’s that DC?”
“How’s your hubby?”
Remembering me, even me, among the grans, great grans and sons.

And thinking of the different ways that Nana lived for us all
each memory we can and cannot remember
and thinking how she touched each of us
and how her life had thread us together
and in her strength, held us close.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, on February 20, 1906, Ruby was the baby girl of seven children born to Mortimer and Annie Sherwood.
Ruby took pride in graduating from the Wolmer’s Academy for girls in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1923. She always maintained a most proper prospective on the world; no doubt her training from Wolmer’s held her in good stead.
In 1923 Ruby’s adventurous independent nature led her on a sea voyage that landed her in Harlem, USA, for a vacation. Never leaving, Ruby stayed with her god-sisters, Lula and Dearest, until she married her first husband, Andruse Howell. They had one son, Mortimer.
Ruby was never out of step with the latest fashions. Her generosity knew no bounds. Ruby was charismatic, fun-loving, strong-willed and a social butterfly. Ruby had a green thumb that was always evident. She took great pride in her beautifully kept home and her loving family.
Eventually Ruby met and married her second husband, Alfonso Jellerett, also a native Jamaican. They had one son, Alphonso.
In 1939 they moved to Jamaica, Queens. A lifelong Catholic, Ruby joined and remained a devout member of St. Bonaventure Parish for over fifty years.
From 1941 to 1945 Ruby maintained the home, raised their two sons, and cared for her mother while her husband, Al, fought in World War II. Through these difficult times, Ruby always persevered.
In 1960 Ruby and Al reestablished their ties with their Jamaican family and friends purchasing a second home in Kingston, JA, and making annual visits.
Preceding her in death were her parents, her five brothers, Louis, Randolph, Leslie, Charles and Aston, her sister Lulu, both husbands, and her son Mortimer. Ruby is survived by her son Alphonso, two daughters-in-law Linda and Carole, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, several nieces and nephews, and a host of devoted relatives and friends.
Lovingly submitted by the family