PIONEERING social worker and consumer advocate Hazel Monteith, who died at the age of 94 last Tuesday, will be buried on June 14 following a thanksgiving service will at the East Queen Street Baptist Church in Kingston.

Well known for her long-running radio programme on RJR on which she gave advice on a range of consumer, employment and legal issues, Monteith became the first executive director of the Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) in 1973, and later graduated from the first course in social work offered by the University of the West Indies in 1963.

Monteith was also founder of the CAB Basic School in 1981 which was later sponsored by the RJR Communications Group and renamed the CAB/RJR Basic School.

She was particularly concerned about the welfare of young women and was instrumental in establishing the Hazel Monteith Skills Training Centre in 1990 to train the many unskilled women who visited the CAB for assistance.

Monteith, who also served as an independent senator from 1985 to 1989 and a Justice of the Peace, was in 1982 awarded the Order of Distinction (OD).

Monteith’s daughter Delaine McFarlane said her mother was a very enterprising person who decorated and catered for all the special occasions for her extended family.

“She made all the wedding dresses in the family, she was always nicely dressed; she sewed for herself and was known for her embroidery pieces. She was a milliner and taught people how to make hats and other craft items,” McFarlane told the Jamaica Observer.

Born Hazel Williams in Savanna-la-mar, Westmoreland, Monteith was a former head girl of the Mannings School.

“Since she was the eldest daughter and first to come to Kingston her house became the station stop for all her siblings making the transition from Westmoreland to Kingston at their various high schools,” McFarlane said.

Her mother, she said, was also a deacon, lay preacher and head florist at East Queen Street Baptist for over 40 years, and served several other organisations, including the National Council for Senior Citizens and the Correctional Services Board of Supervision.

“She was always telling me to be humble, kind and be involved in social work myself. I don’t know where she found time for everything, but she did everything and did it well,” McFarlane said.

Executive director of the CAB, Esther Pinnock, said clients who knew Monetith still come to the organisation for assistance. “The gusto with which Mrs Monteith undertook this task here at the CAB is something that no one can imitate. She was a shoulder to lean on, she was a problem solver. She meant so much to so many people. Hers are big shoes to fill and I am happy to be walking in her legacy,” Pinnock told the Observer.

Desiree Purrier-Green, vice-principal of the CAB/RJR Basic School said Monteith was very stern, but had a fun side to her. “She had an eye for beauty, she liked to she things properly done, and she was always well attired. There was a feisty side to her as well,” she chuckled.

Her friend of over 40 years, president of the National Consumers’ League Joyce P Campbell said Monteith was a field officer with the Jamaica Federation of Women when she was approached to head the CAB.

The CAB replaced the Advice Service that was established by the Council for Voluntary Social Services (CVSS) in the early 1970s.

“Women would come for day’s work and she would broadcast on the radio about how many jobs were available and so on,” said Campbell.

She added that organisations like the Consumer Affairs Commission, the Bureau of Standards, and the Office of Utilities Regulations came about partly because of the foundation work of the National Consumers’ League, of which Monteith was a member.

“She was versed in the social graces, always articulate, well-dressed and sophisticated,” Campbell said.

Monteith who was pre-deceased by husband Emmanuel and son Horace, has three grandchildren.