Doreen Lewis

Celebrating the Blessed Life of Doreen Barbara Lewis
Watch ye, therefore, you know not the day.
When the Lord shall call your souls away.
If you labor, keep striving for the right
You shall wear a golden crown!


Doreen Barbara Lewis entered this world on Monday, May 31st, 1943, in Falmouth, Trelawny, Jamaica W.I. Being the first girl and the second born of five children between the union ofMother Ms. Delma MaeNelson and Father Mr. Ferdinand AugustusLewis. Doreen started her journey in humble beginnings, she attended The Falmouth All Age school, but quickly had to change focus to family due to the split between her mother and father. She found herself journeying back and forth from Falmouth to Kingston filling the void of what she once knew. Thistime in her life was a real coming of age,now faced with adult responsibilitiesto care for herself and her siblings;her love and devotion to family became paramount. Therefore,with not yet mature hands, shewould chop Yam, dasheen, andcocoa with a machete and prepare meals the best she could; using a wet rag at night, her brothers would feel her undying love and affection when she would wipe their little feet clean for bed. Ferdinand relied on Doreen to meet him every pay day to get money for the household, some of which she used to purchase nice clothes for herself and recycle her old clothes by making fancy shorts suites for her little sister Robin.Sewing became natural to Doreenjust by watching her mother Delma and Aunt,Ruth.

As a teenager, Doreen met her first yellow skin handsome love, Mr. Austin Addad,(some would say her true love). They would hold hands while walking on the beach and through the town.They attended the moviesand cuddled at home. Doreen was in love, and she was respected and loved in return. But this was short lived, Austin’s family felt he needed better, and so, they sent him away to England. Her heart was shattered in pieces. Having to feel that pure love wasn’t enough and to be judged by the location of where you lived, was a constant reminder with the rising and setting of the sun. But Doreen was a determined fighter. She decided to upgrade herself and use any of her resources to get to England. So, during this time while working in The New York T-Shirt factory,she did some nursing studies in an England based program and was successful.She also entered a competition in the Gleaner where she thought she won 30lbs of rice, where it turned out to be 30 cases of long grain rice and she had to struggle by herself to get them home, of which she shared with family and neighbors. A fire was lit in Doreen, and she wouldn’t stop there, she reached out to her aunt Ruby who resided in England and express her desire to pursue nursing there. But this dream was cut short whenRuby decided to visit Jamaica and get things started for Doreen, but while in Jamaica Ruby died by poison before returning home to England. Doreen felt doomed, what a bad-lucky girl she probably said to herself. The centerpiece for her development was anchored in her faith and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, so Doreen began teaching Sunday school at The Church of Godin Falmouth.




However, there was still an emptiness inside. With humane desires, she decided to open her mindto an Austin look-a-like, a man by the name of Mr. Windell Collin Thompson. He was handsome and charming, and she thought they would get married. At the age of 21, through this union, blossomed Shonette Thompson, the only child to grace her womb, and Doreen got the nickname (oogie). However, things weren’t the way she hoped, there was no marriage and respect.Everywhere she turned, life seemed to put her down and not build her up, so, she decided to run;Oogie ran away to Kingston and left everyone and everything behind. Shehadto have a fresh start. By this point her mother Delma had already added a new brother to the family, Phillipbecame Doreen’s heart. Awhile had passed and Doreen’s story was highlighted to Osborn and his wife, who are friends to Doreen’s little brother, Lenard. They decided to invite Doreen to Canada and there, finallycame a light through the dark tunnel and hope for a better life would rescue her from what she knows.

After returning to Jamaica from her trip to Canada she made the decision to say goodbye to family and best friend (Toogie) Mrs. Norma Sing and ventured off into this new world. On a Saturday, in June 1992, Doreen exchanged vows with Mr. Henry Grant, and became Doreen Barbara Lewis-Grant, but in her fine style as the dominant one in the relationship, she decided to keep her maiden name Lewis, of which she was proud to have. This marriage served its purpose, and they got divorced years later and Doreen refocused on family. In 1997 baby brother Phillip and Mother Delma landed in Canada which they bore witness to a hard-working Doreen who nannied for the Porter and the *Meeches family, where she traveled with them on fancy vacations and became a long-life friend and mother especially to Laura. She further advanced herself by becoming a nurse’s Aide at The George Brown College and worked in a nursing senior Home.

Feeling more settled in life, Doreen dove into her love for church, every Sunday modeling into The Prayer Palace to worship God while showing off her figure, adorned with tightly fitted dresses and fancy pearls. Travelling here and there to different states and countries visiting family and friends throughout the years. She also had a passion for solving difficult crossword puzzles, she hid her secret trips to the store to get her scratch offs, in which she was luckier than most. Doreen loved to sing and dance, eat at Red Lobster while sipping on her favorite beer ‘Corona ‘, which her friends and brother Phillip would threaten to tell her pastor of which she would giggle.Doreen paved the way for many, especially her niece Janice who she gave a chance to visit Canada in 2011. She also loved the thought of being a grand and great grandmother. Out of all the things Doreen loved to do, she mastered the art of being very caringly noisy, meddling in everyone’s business and not ever speaking about her own.

Doreen was an awesome human being to this date her daughter:Shonett, granddaughters: Sholen Cole and Saysha Thompson-Sutherland; Great grandchild: Xael Sullivan; brothers:Clemsford, Lenard, Percival, Phillip, and Robert; sisters: Robin, Ann, Rose, Norma, Geta, and Moreen; a whole host ofNieces and nephews, cousins, an aunt and an uncle, friends and church family, all say Doreen was a unique soul which was a mother, father, defender, provider, supporter, and friend.






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