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Name: |
" Esmeralda W. Munroe " |
D.O.B: |
06/06/1923 |
D.O.D |
05/09/2021 |
Country From: |
Costa Rica |
State /
Parish: |
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Place of Death |
New York
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Service Date |
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Details: |
Viewing 5pm-6pm at David Williams Funeral Home
108-20 Sutphin Blvd, Jamaica, NY 11435
Service starts 6pm.
Saturday 05/22/2021 Viewing 8:30 am at The Church of Saint Mark 1417 Union Street, Corner of Brooklyn Ave, Brooklyn NY. Service Starts 10am.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wj2ZHw5Ajw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIMQ47uEUW4
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Special Info |
Obituary of Esmeralda Munroe.
While many of us were celebrating and paying tribute to our mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, and the other mother figures in our lives on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 9th, our family matriarch, Esmeralda Munroe, less than a month shy of her ninety-eighth birthday, peacefully transitioned, crossing over from this physical world, to be with cherished loved ones awaiting her “on the other side”.
Esmeralda Wynter, “Essie” or “Esme” as she was lovingly referred to by close family and friends, was born on June 6, 1923 in Guacimo, Limon, Costa Rica. She was the last of three daughters, and the seventh of eight children born to Joseph and Margaret Wynter. Being the last “girl-child,” she was spoiled by her older brothers and sisters, as well as by her father. Growing up on a farm in Radiana, C.R., she and the other younger siblings were responsible for climbing up, collecting, and drying the cocoa seeds (cacao pods) to prepare them to be sold. In her recollection she’d tell how tired she was of “cocoa tea” and that she’d often sneak and drink Papa’s coffee. As tiresome as that might be, living on a farm afforded her the pleasure of riding horses.
Her mother Margaret had been a sought after seamstress and also worked at the United Fruit Company, ``so naturally, Esmeralda along with her siblings learned the fine art of sewing, and several of them, including Esmeralda, were also employed at the fruit company.
In her early twenties, while running an errand for her sister, Claris, at The Commissary, she met a dashing and charismatic young man named David Munroe. Their courtship lasted just 3 months and they married on January 25th 1950. The striking couple started their life together in Matina, another city within Limon. As a couple, they enjoyed traveling, attending and hosting parties and attending dinner dances; when you saw one, you saw the other. They had one biological son, Joseph, who passed away in infancy. Together, they had so much love to give, and poured it into their daughter, Elsa, called “Fel” or “Felicita” meaning, “little joy,”- the biological daughter of Esme’s brother, Alfred. They would also help raise several nieces and nephews.
Esmeralda and her husband migrated to the United States in October of 1957. Aided by his family matriarch, Marie Fray, who had helped many family members get on their feet once they reached America, she and Lloyd (as he was called by his bride and loved ones) began to build their foundation. First in East New York at 602 Georgia Avenue, then in Bedford- Stuyvesant at 844 Green Avenue, and finally they moved to their forever home at 1171 Linden Blvd
During her first few years in the U.S. she found work as a domestic worker, often working for families who had small children. With her exemplary work ethic, she was recommended highly by her then employer, Mrs. Lewin, to the director of nursing at Gracie Square Hospital in Manhattan, where she was hired in February 1963 and worked there until 1966, when she was offered a better position at the Brookdale Hospital, in Brooklyn, NY. She carried everything of who she was with her, including her smile, to her new workplace, where she continued to care for people, working as a nurse’s aide, until her retirement in December 1996.
Esmeralda, like her husband, was a long time, proud and active member of the lodge. Her roots in the organization began on April 30th 1955 in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, when she was initiated as a member of the Loyal Beth Lodge #9925 of the Independent Order of Oddfellows, Manchester Unity Friendly Society, under the jurisdiction of the Central American District.
When they moved to America, Esmeralda became a loyal member of the Lily of the Morning, Chapter No. 3, under the jurisdiction of Composite District Grand Lodge, No. 2. Lily of the Morning which was founded in July 1981. Sister Esmeralda Munroe, a founding member was the 1st Chaplain of the Chapter. She was given the title of Past Illustrative Matron for her work and calming influence as the Chaplain in 1988. In 1989, she was elected as Illustrative Matron for a first term, and in 1992 she was elected for a 4th consecutive term as Matron. Over the
years she continued to hold offices of importance including treasurer. For decades she was an active member, participating in bus rides, fish fries, bingo parties, dinner dances, holiday celebrations, and giving back to the community.
As her health slowly declined, so did her participation in her beloved sisterhood of the Grand Lodge. Sister Munroe’s dedication to the Order earned her many awards and accolades from various lodges and chapters. She was well-known and beloved in the lodge community.
In 2008, after losing her beloved Lloyd and her last sibling, Claris, Esmeralda began to feel lonely, and maintaining the house began to be too much. Her daughter, Fel, visited from Florida as much as she could as did her granddaughters, Bonnie, Noelle, Brittany, and Holly, and their children. Bonnie and her children, and Holly stayed with their Grandma for a time. Although she enjoyed focusing her energies on her grands and great-grands, it was still not all that needed. She needed a companion and she found one in her New York based granddaughter, Natasha, who had lived with them previously
Natasha was able to visit more frequently than they, but even after a while that became stressful, because Natasha was a wife, mother, and worked full time. She knew though that she couldn’t leave her Grandmother there by herself, so they had to come up with a plan. After many discussions and negotiations, Esmeralda agreed that it would be safer and better for all involved to move to Natasha’s house where she would not be as lonely and be cared-for. For almost a decade, Esmeralda lived and even flourished surrounded by her grandchildren and great grandchildren. In her final years, she was cared for at home by her granddaughter, lodge sister and friend, Esperanza Forbes, and several members of Esperanza’s family; sisters, Alda Forbes and Hilza Urbina; her niece, Pearly Spencer; her daughter, Marjorie Taylor; and her best friend, Rosita Brown.
She is preceded in death by her beloved husband, David Lloyd Munroe, her daughter, Elsa Marquez, her parents, Joseph Wynter and Margaret Grant Wynter Foot; sisters, Lillian Wynter and Claris Harrison; brothers, Theophilus, Albert, Cecil, Alfred, and Norman Wynter; nephew, Milton Grant; nephew Ernesto Munroe; and niece, Esmeralda Wesley
She is survived by her granddaughters, Natasha Flores, Bonnie Ebanks, Noelle Hibbert, Brittany Pryce, and Holly Pryce, Great-Grandchildren, Glory, Grace, and Geordan Flores, Kaiya, Damian, Jr. and Shaelyn Snellings, and Naya Ebanks, Zion, Zaccai, Zamora, and Zurielle Hibbert, and Parker Henderson, Grandson-In-Law, Daniel Flores, Son-In-Law, Jorge Marquez, Special Family Friend, Osmond Ebanks, Jr., a host of nieces, nephews, extended family and friends, and lodge sisters and brothers
-Lovingly Submitted by Her Family,
Sleep On, Beloved! |
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