Latest update November 26th, 2024 1:00 AM
Gwendoline Cyrus Bartica’s newest centenarian
Centenarians are rare in the former mining community called Bartica. Today, the community is boasting of one.
Gwendoline Cyrus was born on June 24, 1908 in Bartica Grove to Peter Cyrus and Catherine Gill-Cyrus. Her grandparents were Eugene Gill and Kitura Rhodius-Gill. Today, she is 100 years old.
Gwendoline was the eldest of seven children, the youngest being Mrs Doris Vera Odwin, who crossed over last December.
Gwendoline cared for her younger siblings after the death of her mother on Armistice Day in 1934. Her lone surviving sibling, Mrs Elaine Sankar, resides in Brooklyn, New York.
Her grandfather, Eugene Gill, a pharmacist, hailed from Dominica and her father Peter Cyrus was from Hopetown, Berbice.
Gwendoline married Leslie “Bulla” Allicock who departed this life in 1962. She later married the late Sigmond Croft.
While she did not have any biological children, she mothered and cared many, including Leslie Allicock and Donna Goring.
Auntie Gwen (as she is fondly referred) has been described as loving and caring by her many nieces and nephews.
After the death of her second husband – Mr Croft Ms. Cyrus resided with her now deceased sister, Doris Vera Odwin, at 54 First Avenue Bartica.
“When we were children, Auntie Gwen and Uncle Bulla lived in the cottage at the back of our home on First Avenue, Bartica. Twelve children is a handful to get dressed for school, so our mother would send us to Auntie Gwen to have our hair plaited.
“It was a task that Auntie Gwen took great pride in, as she brushed and brushed and brushed your hair as the clock ticked closer to school time and you tried to wriggle out of the grasp of her knees in an attempt to get her to hurry up,” one of the nieces recalled, yesterday.
“Auntie Gwen loved birthdays, so we all had several birth dates during the year. “’Auntie Gwen, today is my birthday!’” She then readily sat you down to the small dining table with its lovely lace table cloth and prepared a special meal of fried egg, bread and a cup of tea.
“It was enchanting to visit with her in the cottage that she took great pride in changing the wall paper at least twice a year. It was a delight to rest in her chaise and rest on the ornate bolster. Or to walk around her four-poster bed with brass accessories and run your hand over the coverlet. Or just jump in the bed for a quick nap.”
They loved her wise words of wisdom which they “fondly referred to as “Auntiegwenisms”.
Today, the relatives will be commemorating the occasion with a Mass to be celebrated by Fr. Hildebrand, which will be followed by a banquet.
“We all honour her as we celebrate her 100th birthday. We acknowledge her everpresence in our lives and the love she has always shared with family and friends alike,” a relative said.
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