OBITUARY OF MERNA E. WOOLLERY

On March 25, Merna E. Woollery, more fondly known as “Miss Cherry”, beloved mother, and friend, passed away at the age of 79 years young at Montefiore Hospital, Bronx, NY. Miss Cherry was born in the town of Roehampton in St. James Parish, Jamaica, the daughter of Edna Bernard-Daley and Leslie Lynch Ellis. She settled into adulthood in the corporate areas of Kingston and St. Andrew, Jamaica. She met her husband, Lloyd Hendricks Woollery as a young teen and they married when she was sixteen. They had five children together, over a ten-year period, before separating and officially divorcing in 1980. Unfortunately, one of her sons, Michael Wayne Woollery, passed away at the age of sixteen from a chronic medical condition. After her emancipation from marriage, Miss Cherry blossomed into the amazing woman, mother, parent and champion of growth and advancement through education that defined her legacy and sojourn over the remainder of her life. She successfully and triumphantly raised four accomplished children, Sharon, Nadia, Andrea, and Trevor.

Miss Cherry’s passion for learning drove her to enroll at Excelsior Community College in Kingston, Jamaica to complete an Advanced level GCE Certificate in 1977 that bolstered her role as an Accounting Clerk within the Bursars Office at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. Merna’s passion for global adventure drove her to take the bold step to undertake travels to the UK in 1978 and 1980 and the United States in 1981 to ascertain where would be the best fit for her next life transition. Ultimately, she chose NY and found her way to The Bronx to begin the next phase of her life’s journey. In America, Miss Cherry completed a certificate in Business Communications at Betty Owens Secretarial Systems, Manhattan, NY, that enabled her to launch her a career in the financial services industry as a Full-Charge Bookkeeper and Portfolio Administrator for several financial securities firms such as The Starwood Corporation, Himmel Equities, Draper Associates Inc., Walker Street Investors Inc., and Atlantis Equities Inc. Her last job before she retired was at the New York Theological Seminary.

Merna was known for her “fierce” independence, strong opinions, and meticulousness in everything that she undertook. She was dedicated to keeping her family together regardless of the challenges confronting her and demanded that her children think outside of the box, committed to excellence in all their endeavors, and consistently pursued growth through education.

She also strongly believed in charitable giving, especially for educational endeavors. Let’s not forget her passion for political discourse, which we will leave at that!

Miss Cherry LOVED The Queen, Prime Minister Michael Manley, The Rev. Robert H. Schuller,