- Date Of Birth: September 19, 1942
- Date Of Death: March 6, 2020
- State: New York
Reflections Of Our Beloved
Barbara May Reddicks
“Ms. Babs” “Ms. Reddicks” “Granma Babs”
Barbara May Reddicks had a long-lived, fulfilled and blessed life. Barbara was a deeply spiritual person with an unwavering commitment to Jesus Christ, her church family and her small community. She was a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a great grandmother, a sister, a confidant and a friend. She had an incredible impact on so many lives and we are happy to celebrate a life that was impeccably lived.
Born Barbara May Rose on September 19, 1942 in Port Maria, St, Mary, the first daughter born to Lillian Robinson and Cleveland Rose. She was born into a fairly large family with a total of 5 sisters and 3 brothers. Despite having so many siblings, she was raised with her dear cousin Dennis McCarthy by their maternal grandmother Isabella Armsby. It was there she developed her love for cooking and baking that would be one of the few things she was most known and loved for.
Barbara was educated at the Port Maria Infant School and the Port Maria Primary School. She spent much of her teen years helping her grandmother and her aunt Iris prepare baked goods to be sold at the theatre in town. When she moved into the Paggee district, she met her first and only love Leslie Reddicks with whom she shared a front yard in Mona Housing Scheme at the time. They started a relationship as teenagers, which matured into a 33-year marriage (1967-2000) that ended with Leslie’s untimely passing in the year 2000.
Barbara bore 6 children: Rosalie, Albert, Sandra, Phillip and two children who did not survive. While raising her children, Barbara began her career as a seamstress which lasted for 20 years. There she served as a leading delegate for the worker’s union and frequently advocated for workers as a representative in collective bargaining meetings and worker’s strikes. Alongside raising her biological children, Barbara raised Dwight Bartley, affectionately known as Tuwagle, her nephews Mark, Patrick and Wayne, her grandson Obrian, affectionately known as Ricky and her granddaughters Yanikie and Karlisa. Practically all of her grandchildren spent a significant amount of time in her care and guidance. She naturally volunteered to raise them whenever the need would arise.
Upon retirement Barbara continued to be involved in community advocacy. She remained predominantly a homemaker and also ran a small business from her home and raising animals. She officially made Jesus Christ her Lord and Savior. She was baptized and became an active member of the Port Maria United Church/Kirk Church. She migrated to Brooklyn, New York in 2007 where she resided with her eldest daughter and joined the Kingdom Life Ministries church family.
Her grandchildren remember her as not only a caretaker, but as someone who was their fierce advocate.
