Tribute to Joyce Saunders

by Luke Browne

I am grateful for this opportunity to say a few words of tribute at this homegoing service for our dearly departed sister Joyce Saunders. I would like you to pay special attention to a word I just used – homegoing.

We may think that Joyce’s home was here at Kingstown Hill. Surely, she lived right here for most of her life. However, the songwriter and our experience remind us that this world is not our home. We are only passing through. The angels have beaconed Joyce to heaven’s open door.

The community of Kingstown Hill has lost a few of its prominent residents in recent times – Joyce Saunders, Mabel Browne (Joyce’s neighbour) whose funeral was conducted right here at the St Michael’s the Evangelist #2 Church a few weeks ago on 24th September 2023 (I think that was the first funeral at this church), Charmaine Peters who was buried the day after Mabel Browne and Louise Toney.

The Apostle Paul wanted to make sure that Christians could comfort each other in moments like these of bereavement and that is why he gave us the passage of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. We need not sorrow as people without hope. We have hope and it is built on nothing less than Jesus’s blood and righteousness.

We will meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

When I first heard the news of the death of our dear sister Joyce, I was about to enter a meeting at Cabinet Room. After the meeting, I came straight here to Kingstown Hill and met Leader Rondel Saunders on the porch and Sister Mary. I suppose that every Leader needs a Mary. Jesus Christ has Mary Magdeline and Rondel Saunders has Mary Phillips. By the way, I would like to commend Sister Mary for the wonderful job she did taking care of Ms. Saunders. She gave excellent service and Ministry.

When I arrived on the porch that day, the Leader was crying and inconsolable. He kept repeating the phrase “mommy gone.” I did not know what to say to him at that point.

However, in devotions the next morning we read a passage of Scripture which I thought was relevant to the situation. The passage we read was from Psalm 112 which is my Bible has the subtitle “The Blessings of Godliness.”

The Psalm was opened with the statement “Blessed is the man [woman] that fearest the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his [her] commandments.

Verse 6 is pertinent – Surely he [she] shall not be moved forever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. We will carry her in our hearts forever.

We will remember her black cake. I am sorry that I am allergic to flour and could not have it. However, I think there is an international consensus that if you had the good fortune of eating black cake from her you would probably never again want to it from anyone else.

We will remember her quiet, peaceful, humble and kind nature and the fact that she never stressed over anything. She sometimes gave up her rights for the sake of peace and her standard advice for her children when they faced potential conflict was “throw water on that.”
We would remember her special sense of humour. Indeed, she was very funny.

She had a profound love for her children and grandchildren and an unbreakable and unassailable bond with them. She was fierce, loyal, resolute and determined in their defence – in the true spirit and sense of a protective mother hen or matriarch.

Mikasha, one of her daughters, told me that she liked a bit of soca music and that her favourite song was Hello by Kes.

She liked style and fashion and enjoyed styling or dressing up her children when they were going out.

She would normally call her children on their birthdays and sing the happy birthday song for them ending it as usual with the question “How old are you now?” I think that the children got a little shy of answering that question when they got older.

I am happy to say that her favourite colour was red. My favourite colour is also red.

There is a strong connection between the Saunders family and my family which pre-dated the commencement of my involvement in politics and transcends politics.

Joyce Saunders had the same birthday as my mother. She like my father was born in the tumultuous 1940s. She died two days before my birthday and I understand that she left strict instructions to bury her after her death in the shortest possible time. I see that her children have complied with her wishes.

I have been running up this Kingstown Hill as part of my exercise routine since the days of my youth. Very often, June (daughter of the deceased) used to be sitting on the porch and see me struggling up the hill. I ran up the hill this morning. June is no longer with us. However, I think some of her siblings saw me. I hope they were not laughing at my slow pace.

I had the good fortune of spending some quality time with Sister Joyce Saunders since her return to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. She was a source of encouragement, guidance and wisdom.

This is a tragic loss not only for me, but also for my father and the other members of my family circle. We have lost a family friend.

I also wanted to share with you verse 2 of Psalm 112 which I mentioned earlier in this tribute.

This verse instructs us that the seed of the godly person shall be mighty upon the earth.

Joyce had 10 children. She was pre-deceased by four of them: June, Francine, Derk and Richard. She is survived by six of them: Antonia, Bernadette, Teresa, Khamala, Mikasha and Rondel. She had about 24 grandchildren.

Joyce’s seed is mighty upon the earth.

I would like to extend my sympathy to all the generation of the deceased Joyce Saunders. I love you. I will miss your mother. I am mourning with you. We must commit our cause to God (Job 5:8). He exalts those that mourn to safety (Job 5:11).
God bless you.