Former Supreme Court Judge Justice Marjorie Cole-Smith has died.

Justice Cole-Smith, who was recuperating from a surgery to remove a cancerous lump, died suddenly in the United States on Monday from complications related to a post-surgical procedure.

Her son, Surgical Oncologist Dr Franz Smith, told the Jamaica Observer on Tuesday that his mother had, on January 10, celebrated her 80th birthday in the bosom of family and friends.

“She was looking forward to her 80th birthday; we had a beautiful party in her honour on January 11th with immediate family members and we had all these tributes from judges of both the Appeal and Supreme courts, friends she went to law school with and from her high school, York Castle,” Smith said.

Justice Cole-Smith, who rose to the Supreme Court benches from humble beginnings in Standfast District, St Ann, will be interred next Wednesday in the United States beside her mother. An official memorial service in her honour is being planned for this March in Jamaica.

On Tuesday Dr Smith — who is the only biological child but one of two sons (second son adopted) for his parents who had been married for 54 years — sang the praises of the woman they called “the core of the family” and a patriot to the end.

“She was such a strong person, she was a giving person, a planner and a very practical person. She never forgot her roots in Brown’s Town and York Castle High School. She went to high school on a government scholarship and the Government also sent her to university. She always had a heart for giving back, she loved the people of Jamaica,” Dr Smith shared.

He said Justice Cole-Smith who by her own admission was “fearless in the courtroom and a woman of few words” had a heart for everyone, even up to the moment she passed.

“Her spirit wasn’t only for my brother and me, she believed in mentoring people, especially young women. If there was a young woman who was trying to better themselves she was there to encourage and advise,” he reminisced, adding that his mother was financially prudent as so bought and sold her first house when she was 18 years of age.

“She was just a very disciplined person. I was born the August and she went to law school September. A very remarkable person. Once my mother made up her mind about something she was going to get it done,” he said.

He pledged to ensure that his mother’s second book, which she had just about completed before she died, is published.

“She was in the process of writing her second book but unfortunately the publisher of the first one had died. I have the manuscript and I will get it published. She was very proud of her book which was written in honour of her grandmother, Miss Alice (who raised her). She credits all her success to Miss Alice,” Dr Smith told the Observer.

Justice Cole-Smith, in a 2007 Observer article after she had published her book Miss Gillibank Seh: Proverbs my grandmother taught me; said the collection of 301 proverbs was her contribution to immortalising Jamaican proverbs for future generations.

In 2015 Justice Cole-Smith was conferred with the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander by the Jamaican Government for her 50 years of service to the justice system.