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Caribbean L 30 ife, May 31–June 6, 2019
By Nelson A. King
A Vincentian centenarian residing in
Amityville in Suffolk County, Long Is.,
who would have turned 105 on Thursday,
died Saturday morning – five days short
of what would have been another significant
milestone.
Marcina King-Jeffrey, who was born in
Diamonds Village in the South Central
Windward constituency in St. Vincent
and the Grenadines and who lived in
Harlem, lower Manhattan and Brooklyn
over the years before moving to Long Is.
to live with her daughter, Bernice King-
Maccow, died at Good Samaritan Hospital
in West Islip, Suffolk County, Long Is.,
Mrs. King-Maccow told Caribbean Life in
an exclusive interview on Monday.
Mrs. King-Maccow, who was also born
in Diamonds Village, said her mother’s
cause of death was a stroke. She said Mrs.
King-Jeffrey died at the hospital four days
after she was taken there after not feeling
well.
She said the family had planned a big
birthday bash for Mrs. King-Jeffrey on
Saturday, at Plattduetsche Park Catering,
on Hempstead Turnpike, Franklin
Square in Long Is., but cancelled it after
she fell ill.
Mrs. King-Maccow said her mother
will be interred on Friday, at Woodlawn
Cemetery in the Bronx, a day after what
would have been her 105th birthday.
Viewing and a funeral service, at Wakefield
Grace United Methodist Church,
4750 White Plains Road, Bronx, will precede
the interment.
Mrs. King-Maccow said her mother’s
remains will be buried next to her sister’s,
Elaine King-Thomas, and also in
the same cemetery as her brother’s, Bromwell
King.
“She made her plans 15 years ago (to
be buried in the same cemetery as her
siblings),” Mrs. King-Maccow said.
Besides Mrs. King-Maccow, Mrs. King-
Jeffrey is survived by a son, Kerwyn
King, who lives in the Bronx. Mrs. King-
Jeffrey’s other daughter, Cleopatra King-
Martin, died 12 years ago, from cancer,
in Detroit.
Mrs. King-Jeffrey’s husband, Claudius
Jeffrey, originally from the leeward side
of mainland St. Vincent, predeceased
her about 20 years ago. They lived on
Rockaway Parkway in Brooklyn, Mrs.
King-Maccow said. She could not recall
the exact village or town in St. Vincent
and the Grenadines where Mr. Jeffrey
was born.
“I am very sad, very sad,” said Mrs.
King-Maccow about her mother’s passing.
“She always said she was waiting on
the Lord. She was a mild-mannered person.
She was kind and sympathetic. She
always thought about the family.
“Not because she was my mother, she
was a wonderful person,” Mrs. King-Maccow
added. “I loved her; I still love her.
“Her words were ‘live light,’” Mrs.
King-Maccow continued. “She just loved
the Lord, and she traveled light. She
never explained what it means. She never
had any burdens to put her down. She
never fussed with anyone. She never
had any discomfort, enmity. That’s how
I interpret it.”
Brenda King-Samuel, Mrs. King-Jeffrey’s
niece, who lives in Hempstead, Nassau
County, Long Is., told Caribbean Life,
that her aunt was the seventh of eight
children, born in Diamonds Village, to
Duke and Adelphima King.
Mrs. King-Samuel said Mrs. King-
Jeffrey was born on May 30, 1914. Her
siblings – Bromwell King, Elaine King-
Thomas, Edna King-Williams, Shanders
King, Myrtle King-McDonald, Amabel
King and Viva King-Boatswain – predeceased
her.
Mrs. King-Samuel said her aunt was
an elementary school teacher at the
then Union Methodist School in South
Central Windward in St. Vincent and
the Grenadines before migrating to the
United States in January 1945 to join an
older brother and her sister, Elaine, in
Harlem.
She immediately became an active
member of the Beulah Wesleyan Methodist
Church in Harlem, Mrs. King-Samuel
said.
Determined to be successful, she said
her aunt then enrolled in an unidentified
bookkeeping school to become a bookkeeper.
After graduation, Mrs. King-Samuel
said Mrs. King-Jeffrey worked, for over
50 years, at Halpern and Christianfeld in
the garment district in Manhattan, retiring
at 80.
“She was the only black employee (at
the concern) for a number of years,” Mrs.
King-Samuel said, adding that her aunt
was “confident of her skills and ability;
therefore, she refused to be intimidated
by her colleagues.”
After retiring, Mrs. King-Maccow said
her mother resided, for 20 years, at St.
Margaret’s House, a home for senior citizens
on Fulton Street, in the Wall Street
section in lower Manhattan, becoming
an active member at John Street United
Methodist Church in lower Manhattan.
“At that time, she couldn’t do much
for herself, so the best thing was for her
to come to live with her family,” said
Mrs. King-Maccow, disclosing that her
mother lived with her for about 12 years
before she died.
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Marcina King-Jeffrey dies five
days short of 105th birthday
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