RETIRED judge in the Resident Magistrate’s Court Ruby Walcott was hailed as a true daughter of Jamaica who gave valuable service to her country and her people during a thanksgiving service for her life at the Stella Maris Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday.

Walcott died on July 29 after a battle with illness.

Judge Patrick Robinson, who gave the remembrance, described Walcott as his friend and colleague.

“Ruby was a very honest and direct person,” Robinson said.

Opposition Leader Andrew Holness was also full of praise for the late member of the Jamaica Labour Party.

“Ruby was a no-nonsense person, she was tenacious. Ruby was not one to be pushed around and not push back,” Holness said.

Ruby Cecelia Walcott rose through the ranks of the legal system after starting out as an attorney, then a clerk of the court before graduating to a crown counsel in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and finally becoming a judge in the Resident Magistrate’s Court.

She served in the legal fraternity for 40 years before entering politics where she contested the St Catherine North Central seat where she unsuccessfully challenged KD Knight.

Walcott was also a member of the JLP’s legal advisory team and served as the chairperson of the Adoption Board and the fund-raising committee of the Jamaica Foundation for Children.

— Karyl Walker