MERITA Charles, mother-in-law of Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, and mother of Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles, was laid to rest in Moneague on Sunday, October 17.

The Thanksgiving Service for the life of the late centenarian, affectionately called ‘Miss Rita’, was held at the Moneague Seventh-day Adventist Church, in St Ann.

Golding remembered his mother-in-law as a unique individual.

“To say that Miss Rita was an extraordinary woman sounds much too ordinary and yet in so many ways she was one of a kind. She was a strong woman; strong in her convictions, in her values and in her sense of responsibility,” Golding said in his tribute.

He added that Charles’ strength was marked by meekness and humility that formed a part of her character and personality.

Golding’s wife Lorna described her mother as a phenomenal woman.

“Mama was a woman of diversity. Indeed, she played a multiplicity of roles in our lives. She was first and foremost the matriarch and family engineer, but she also made significant contributions as a playwright, poet, culinary artist, horticulturist and even choreographer,” she said.

“Her foundation was prayer and her life was founded on a deep and abiding faith in God. She believed that a woman’s role was to take centre stage in the family and she used this opportunity to inculcate in her children the importance of prayer and faith in our lives,” Lorna Golding said.

In his tribute, Pearnel Charles said his mother was a most wonderful person who was always looking out

for others.

“My mother had seven children and when we grew up and left to be on our own she took in seven more children and when those children left she took in seven more,” Charles said. “I lived with her for awhile, lived beside her for awhile, and now she will live within me forever.”

Merita Charles is survived by her five sons, Pearnel, Wentworth, Hughlet, Kiplin and Peter and two daughters, Lorna and Judith, 27 grandchildren and 31 great grandchildren.