‘Miss Mary’ meant many things

Mary Corraspe-Jones died on July 28. Her funeral was held on August 2. The following eulogy by her daughter Carlene Freya Riley has been edited for length.

Mary Corraspe-Jones, ‘Miss Mary’, was born on May 19, 1947, to the late Elaine and Agostini Corraspe. She was the eldest girl in the family and carried the responsibilities that came with it.

Mommy did many things for us, and she was many things to all of us. Apart from her family, the most important thing in her life was her relationship with God.

To say that Mommy had a personal relationship with God would be an understatement. She was a faithful servant and loyal friend of our Lord, giving years of service to God, His Church, and His people.

She was a First Communion and Confirmation catechist for many years and also served as Parish Catechetical Coordinator. Seeing the need for the youth of the parish to learn more about God and to have a personal encounter with Jesus, she formed a youth Bible study and prayer group.

Her love for music and singing also led her to become a choir member. She loved to sing, especially when it was a song she enjoyed.

Mommy was brought up in the Catholic faith and truly made our home into a domestic Church. She taught us to pray and kept us together with nightly prayer. She made sure that we remembered the Sabbath day. No matter how tired we were or if we got home at 3 a.m., we had no choice but to get up and go to church. Mommy was a prayer warrior. Everything she placed in God’s hands. Everyone called her to pray for them in their time of difficulty or need, for interviews, health issues—whatever the situation.

She would light her candle and pray until the situation was over. I believe because she had that close relationship with Jesus, He answered her prayers a little faster than the rest of us.

She had great faith and trusted in Jesus to see her through every situation. Mommy dealt with many pains and sufferings in her life with courage, strength, and a smile that she could only have gotten from God.

As soon as Mommy retired from Gran Couva RC, she faced one issue after another. She learned that she had breast cancer and had a mastectomy, and soon after, the cancer spread to the next breast. I remember her saying, “I came into this world without any and will leave without them.”

I also remember her talking to God, saying that she loved her hair and did not want to do chemo or radiation. And so it was—she didn’t have to, and her hair never dropped.

She also faced the death of three children. Even after this, she faced numerous diagnoses from rheumatoid arthritis to lupus, and she faced them all with courage. She used her ailments to help others, as she was her own doctor. She believed that Jesus is the greatest physician and she just had to receive Him to feel better.

Uncle Joseph recalled that one day when she went to receive the Precious Blood, instead of saying Amen, she said, “thank you”. It was as if she immediately felt better around Communion time—she didn’t need the walking stick or help to walk at times.

Mommy was the world’s greatest mother, not only to her biological children but to many others. As Candace, her niece, put it, she was a lover of children. Candace also recalled that during the July-August vacation, her home was the house of children, not just with nieces and nephews but even children from St Dominic’s Home.

Her children were not as enthused with all these visitors, especially when it came to the sharing of food, but somehow there was always more than enough. She truly loved children. She had ten of us.

Mommy was not just our mother but our friend, confidant, prayer warrior, and cheerleader. We remember her coming from work, not just one job but sometimes two and three, and sitting on the ground with us, listening to our stories, to us singing or chanting as it was called.

She made time for play but also to educate us. Mommy’s desire for all of us was to be independent and able to stand on our own. Thus, she saw it fit for each of us to have a sound education, if not academic, then technical qualifications. She valued education, not just for us her children, but many others that she met through her time at Gran Couva RC School.

Everyone Mom encountered remembers her kindness, her smile, her laughter, and her gentle spirit. She loved the time spent with all her grandchildren, especially spoiling them. They, especially the last three, could get away with murder.

Miss Mary never had a cover for her mouth. She said what she had to say, and that was that. Who vex, loss. She was not afraid to say the difficult things to people and to give advice when needed. All that she did, she did with love and genuinely wanted the best for all. She was never one to hold a grudge—she said her piece and moved on.

Mommy had her moments too. I remember once when we went to ‘Priests Can Cook’, Mommy was fighting, not literally, an old lady to get into her own car. I told her, along with two nuns, to wait for me at the exit, and I would pick them up. Only to see Mommy blocking an old lady with her cane to get into the lady’s son’s car. No matter how much I was blowing that horn in the back, she paid no heed. All that was in her head was that I was coming to pick her up. Finally, when she realised it was not my car, what did Mommy do? Laugh, and I’m sure you all know her uncontrollable laughter.

In her last days, she was not talking much due to her condition. Although she was weak and unwell, whenever someone called and asked how she was, she would always say, “I’m good.”

Mommy always wanted, when she died, to go straight to Heaven and asked God to allow her to have her purgatory here on Earth. I believe her prayers were answered.

Rest in peace, dear Mommy, our guardian above. We send you our prayers and endless love.