Lydia M. Duviella
Lydia M. Duviella, 90, of Lehigh Acres, died Sunday, March 17, 2013, with her loving family at her side after a brief illness. She was born June 22, 1922, in Cuba, to Jeremiah Parris and Hilda Hall.
A descendant of the Parris family of Barbados, she was a classic example of the drive and work ethic shared by many immigrants from the Caribbean.
She was the youngest of three in a family that included the late Sidney Parris and the late Stanley Parris. The family moved to Jamaica, where she grew up in the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
In 1950, she met and married Carol George Gibbs and they started a family. Vernon was quickly followed by Pauline and Vesper. The family immigrated to Brooklyn in 1956, where Jonathan and Peter were born.
In 1960, she became a working mother and was joined by her own mother, Hilda, and her husband, John Campbell. Together they purchased a house and devoted themselves to raising their progeny in a turbulent and fast changing era.
During that time, she earned her degree as a certified nursing assistant and began working in local New York City hospitals. She often had two or more jobs in addition to selling Avon products and simultaneously managing several local susu banking clubs.
While employed at St. Luke’s Hospital, she met Gabriel Duviella whom she married on her retirement in 1992.
She moved to Lehigh Acres and helped start the Lehigh Acres Seventh Day Adventist Church, built by her brother, Sidney. She and Gabriel lived happily in Lehigh until Gabriel’s death in 2008.
Having developed Alzheimer’s, she was cared for by her children, Pauline and Vesper, in their homes in Detroit and Boston until finally – when she could not travel any more – she was cared for in her own home by Peter and his wife, Delisa, with the help of Jonathan.
Needing full-time professional care, she was moved to Oakbrook in LaBelle and continued to spread joy to all even in her diminished state, buoyed by the unconditional love of family and friends who visited often.
She was a staunch, unwavering Seventh Day Adventist for all of her life and went to her rest secure in the belief of the resurrection and eternal life.
She is survived by her children and their spouses, grandchildren and their spouses, great-grandchildren, cousins, nephews, nieces and spouse, grandnieces and grandnephews, in-laws and many friends from Lehigh Acres Seventh Day Adventist Church and Hanson Place Seventh Day Adventist Church in Brooklyn, which she attended for over 30 years.
A funeral was held Sunday, March 24, 2013, at the Lehigh Seventh Day Adventist Church. Entombment took place Monday March 25, 2013, at Lee Memorial Park Cemetery.
Those who wish to offer condolences to the family may visit her memorial Web page at: www.andersonpatterson.com and sign the guestbook.