Centenarian, Ismay Leotta Pinder, who has been described as “loving and caring”, celebrated her special day on February 25, 2024, with family and friends at her home in Valley Close, St. George.
President of Barbados, Her Excellency, The Most Honourable Dame Sandra Mason was one of her specially invited guests.
One of the centenarian’s sons, Charles Pinder, remarked that his mother is a “loving, caring person” and that “her loving care for others resonated in her work in the NHS” (National Health Service, United Kingdom).
Mr. Pinder added that his mother would “work night duty so that she would be home for Neil, my brother, and I so that she made breakfast for us, prepare us; [and] send us to school”.
In a tribute to the centenarian, Emile Pinder, one of the centenarian’s grandsons, noted that the family, many of whom live in the United Kingdom (UK), feel “blessed to be here with our loving grandma again”.
He added that despite the distance from their home in the UK to Barbados, it is worth it to be “hugging grandma and feeling her loving smile welcoming us back again”.
Mrs. Pinder’s principal caregiver, Aldra Glen Holligan, shared that the centenarian is sometimes “very feisty” but is loving and caring. She noted: “I guess being a nurse you get those qualities coming out. She cares for her family.”
Born in Ellerton St. George, Mrs. Pinder attended St. Jude’s Primary School, St. George, where she reached 7th Standard. A member of the ‘Windrush Generation’, she travelled to the UK onboard the HMT Empire Windrush and trained as a nurse in Yorkshire. Upon being certified, she moved to London and advanced her nursing career at the Royal Eye Hospital, London.
While in the UK, Mrs. Pinder (nee Lashley) married Montague St. Alban DeCoursey Pinder (now deceased) in 1956. She had four children, Angela (deceased), Margo, and Neil and Charles (fraternal twins). The centenarian has six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Pinder retired in 1984 and returned to Barbados with her husband. She took to gardening and singing and was an active member of the Mothers’ Union of the St. George Parish Church. Mrs. Pinder had the challenge of caring for an ailing daughter, until she passed in 2002.
In spite of a few health challenges, the centenarian continues to be active, enjoys exercising early in the morning, loves to pray throughout the day, and recites Psalms from memory.
Her Excellency presented Mrs. Pinder with a bouquet of flowers, a bottle of non-alcoholic wine, and a personalised card. In her closing remarks, Dame Sandra noted that Mrs. Pinder “was one of the people chosen to help build back Britain… and she spent a significant part of her life, helping to prop up Britain”.
She added that it had been a pleasure being present at the celebration and urged the centenarian to keep her “beautiful smile”.
Troy Barker