KINGSTON, Jamaica – Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Violet Neilson, who died on June 11, has been accorded an official funeral by the Government.

She was 93.

The funeral will take place on Monday, July 8.

Leader of Government Business in the House, Edmund Bartlett, made the announcement during Tuesday’s sitting of the House where members paid tribute to Neilson who served as the first female Speaker from 1997-2002. She was also the first female president of the male-dominated Jamaica Agricultural Society and was a school teacher before she entered representational politics.

Neilson served three terms as Member of Parliament for St James East Central from 1989-2002 when she retired from politics.

Neilson had battled Alzheimer’s disease in her advanced years. Member of Parliament for East Kingston and Port Royal, Phillip Paulwell, in his tribute called for more to be done to ensure Jamaicans understand the challenges posed by the disease.

“I want to bring to the attention of this House this issue of Alzheimer’s and dementia because increasingly worldwide, our elderly people who have served are coming down with this disease and it seems more frequent than before,” Paulwell said.

“I think we, through the Ministry of Health, have to be engaged in greater public awareness and education about Alzheimer’s, our people do need to understand how to care for people with Alzheimer’s and more importantly to see how we can anticipate such a disease so, as I’m told, there are things that can be done to prevent the worse effects of it,” Paulwell added.

An official funeral is accorded to members of the Cabinet; the President of the Senate; the Speaker of the House of Representatives; members of the Senate and members of the House of Representatives; widows and widowers of national heroes and such other people as may be determined by the Cabinet.