BY DONESHA WILLIAMS

OBSERVER STAFF WRITER

On Saturday February 21, 2015, family, church and community members came out in their numbers to bid farewell to educator and co-founder of the Fitz-Henley Secretarial Institute, Olive Fitz-Henley, at the Philadelphia Assembly Hall in Greenwich Town, Kingston 13. The Secretarial Institute gained legendary status for training Jamaicans in shorthand, typing and general secretarial duties.

Son Dr Michael Fitz-Henley remembered the last words his mother shared with him when he visited her in hospital prior to her death: “I have no pain, I’m all right. I love you all. I have the blessings of the Lord. Now leave me for I need to sleep.”

In tributes from her children and grandchildren, Olive was remembered as a charming woman who loved her orchids, and as a devoted woman of God.

“Our grandmother was a devoted woman in her church and would always give us a small token of cash whenever we went to visit her,” revealed granddaughter Shaina Ferron. “She was a loving mother, grandmother and a mother-in-law who always had a smile on her face and was always giving.”

Former past student and administrative assistant at the Ocho Rios Fitz-Henley Secretarial Institute, Dene Speid, paid special tribute to “Queen Fitz-Henley”, as the deceased was lovingly called, because of her poise, refinement and elegance. Speid’s tribute was read by Donald Brown.

“Both the staff and students would try to emulate her. She was a stickler for good manners and proper conduct. Social graces were very important to her. She was also an excellent educator, guidance counsellor, friend and mother to all. It is impossible to quantify the contribution that Mrs Fitz-Henley made in her many years of distinguished service to education and nation building. She is really one of Jamaica’s unsung heroines,” Speid recalled.

Olive Fitz-Henley is survived by four children – daughter, Sheryl, and sons David, Andrew and Michael. She was predeceased by her husband, Samuel.