FORMER teacher and Compact Travel Service founder Juliet Moss-Solomon was aptly remembered as a vivacious woman who had a bubbly personality and a very big heart, during the celebration of her life on Saturday, January 13, 2024 at University Chapel, Mona.

Moss-Solomon, who passed on November 27, 2023 at age 66, was also hailed as a selfless human being who loved her family and friends without limits, as well as a stickler for excellence.

“She had such a dynamic personality. There’s no one who interacted with her that she would not have impacted in some way,” her son David said in his tribute.

Noting that his mother started teaching at age 19, the young Moss-Solomon said she loved to inspire people, and described her as powerful, caring, and intelligent.

He also spoke of her love for gardening and the pleasure she took in watching birds flock to the bird baths and feed stations she set up in her garden.

“She loved creating an environment in which she felt at peace,” he said, adding that his mother was also fond of photos, so much so that going through her collection of pictures to select those for the printed funeral programme proved difficult.

“How I look at it is that my mom is immortal right now. When I have my children I could literally introduce them to her by just showing them her social media [pages],” he said.

Friend Sharon Shelton said that on the morning of November 27, 2023, “Juliet’s big, big heart had stopped beating — the big heart that had made us all love her so much.”

Shelton said that Compact Travel Service meant the world to Moss-Solomon, who had regarded the company as one of her greatest achievements.

“She was a hard taskmaster — and for her, excellence was the name of the game,” added Shelton who also noted that Moss-Solomon was a good conversationalist.

“Her staff loved her and learnt to put up with the tantrums and the cussings levelled at them at times, knowing that it was coming from a heart of love and a desire for them to be the best they could be,” she said.

“Jules exuded love and never hesitated to tell you that she loved you. In the middle of a conversation she would stop and say, ‘You know I love you, right? Ah love yu like cook food,’ ” Shelton said, triggering laughter and nods of agreement.

“Her family meant the world to her and she loved them unconditionally. Her sons, however — Cornel and David — were her pride and joy,” Shelton said.

“Juliet had a lot of friends. To know her was an experience, and she brought a different experience to all of us, and her expectations of each of us was different. She still remains a mystery to some but in all of this there was one constant — her huge heart, and along with that her loyalty and devotion. She was always loving, always giving, always caring,” Shelton said.

“She spent a lot of time caring for others, particularly her mother and [her second husband] Owen. Their deaths took a toll on her physically and emotionally. If only she had taken care of herself and her health in the way that she did theirs; they never ran out of medication and were never lacking in medical attention, but she completely neglected herself in those areas,” Shelton explained.

Moss-Solomon, she said, enjoyed travelling and having a good time. Shelton also shared that among the superlatives used by friends to describe Moss-Solomon were vivacious, effervescent, flamboyant, strong-willed, kind, glamorous, and selfless.

Moss-Solomon’s brother, Edward Malcolm, shared that her siblings referred to her as Muffet.

He said she studied at Shortwood Teachers’ College, after which she taught at Manning’s School in Savanna-la-Mar, then Belair High in Mandeville, before going to work at GraceKennedy Travel Service, then Martins Travel as sales and marketing manager. After that she established Compact Travel.

He said it appeared that his sister “had a premonition that her end was near” as she visited family and friends across the island, driving herself, which she rarely ever did.

“She started from Kingston and travelled along the south coast, stopped in Savanna-lar-Mar, Negril, Montego Bay, Falmouth, Ocho Rios, and then returned to Kingston,” he said.

“In hindsight it was as though she was saying goodbye to all of us,” Malcolm said.