Obituary for Delores Caviness Brown
Remembering Delores Caviness Brown
Delores Ophelia Caviness, affectionately known as Dee, Ms. Dee, or Mrs. Brown to her friends, and as Lois to her family, was born on August 26, 1928, in Greensboro, North Carolina, and raised in a small community in Randolph County known as Pleasant Hill. She attended her earliest schooling in that county, then after being orphaned at an early age with the passing of both her mother, Leonie Caviness in 1932, and then the passing of her grandmother Cordelia Caviness (née Strickland) in 1934, their grandfather, Mr. William Caviness, and his second wife Mrs. D’Etta Caviness, eventually moved the family, including Delores and her sister Helen (deceased), to Oakland, Florida in 1944.
Upon completion of high school, she moved to New York City to continue her education. In 1959, she graduated with honors from the New York Institute of Dietetics. She also attended Bronx Community College and New York University, majoring in Business Administration and Nutrition.
It was in New York that she met, and in 1949 married, Leon George Paisley (deceased) of Jamaica, West Indies. To this union was born their daughter Renee Anita Paisley (deceased), who became the beloved younger sister to Leon’s daughter Norma Paisley. Although Delores and Leon later divorced, they remained friends and a supportive family to one another and their children and grandchildren.
Delores worked for 46 years in various positions in hospitals and nursing homes. She has received several awards in recognition of her dedicated service and for implementing policies and procedures in the health field. Her positions have included: Clinical Dieticians and Supervisor at Albert Einstein Hospital, Assistant Director of Environmental Services at Morningside Nursing Home, and a member of the State Survey Team inspecting hospitals and nursing homes in the New York area until her retirement in 1995.
Ever the hard worker, in addition to her full-time job, she often held a part-time job at a department store such as Gimbels or John Wanamaker in Cross County Yonkers, NY, to put a little something away for a rainy day.
She was a very stylish, social, fashionably creative, and energetic person who enjoyed millinery designs and jewelry making, well-tailored clothing, and a well-kept home. Delores took great pride in maintaining the homes, cars, and clothing she owned and worked hard for over the years.
On September 18th, 1960, Delores joined Butler Memorial United Methodist Church. She loved her church family, and was a faithful, active member, having served on the Administrative Board, Committee on Lay Leadership, Bible Study Group (Wednesday mornings), United Methodist Women (Co-Chairperson of Membership), and North Carolina Club (Former President and Vice-President), and was honored in 2003 with a Church Service Award. She often talked about the wonderful fellowship and all of the programs and activities sponsored by the church. Whenever family and friends visited her, she always took them to church on Sunday to meet her church family.
In 1984, she married the love of her life, Philip Israel Brown (deceased). Their marriage was a precious union of love. As a Food Service Manager at a nursing home, and a Dietician in the same field, Philip and Delores shared many common interests. They enjoyed cooking and baking, spending time with their blended extended family and friends, and attending church. After his death in 1987, Burke Avenue Baptist Church, Philip’s home church in the Bronx, remained close and connected to Delores and her family to the present day.
Delores enjoyed being a busy “39-year-old” senior citizen. She was a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), and numerous Senior Citizens Centers. During the last three years of her life, she enjoyed gardening, jewelry making, choir practice, and social activities in the Kittay Senior Apartments in the Bronx where she resided.
She loved visiting family and friends. She made annual trips to Florida after the passing of her only sister Helen, to check on her nieces and nephews, especially Debra Gipson Bridges, and her daughter LaQuanda. She was always present at the family reunions, homecoming in North Carolina, and the beginning of revival at her hometown Methodist church in Pleasant Hill, NC (Randolph County).
She traveled to many places around the world, including Tanzania, Greece, Hawaii, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico, to name a few, and especially enjoyed cruises to the Caribbean Islands. Dancing was perhaps one of her favorite activities, along with attending a concert or theatre production, going on day trips and excursions, along with working on activity books, playing bingo, visiting family, dining out, watching movies, and chatting with friends.
Leaving the physical presence of family and friends is never an easy event, but we know it is an event that we all will attend one day. Delores transitioned peacefully on Friday, May 13th in the early morning hours at the Allen Pavillion hospital in Manhattan, NYC after suffering a massive stroke two weeks earlier. In those last weeks of her life, as was her prewritten wish, she rested quietly to the sounds of gospel music, and the prayers and comforting words of family, a few close friends, the hospital chaplain, and her pastor. At last, she will be reunited with her beloved daughter Renee Barnes née Paisley and Renee’s father Leon, her sister Helen Gipson Postell, her mother Leonie Caviness, her uncles Thomas “Tommy” and Jasper “Jack” Caviness, her best friend Eleanor Weekes and her daughter Akua Weekes, grandson Louis Nathaniel Tucker, Jr, and her beloved husband Philip, as well as a host of relatives and friends.
When Delores was born, she cried and we celebrated her arrival. Now, we are crying and she is rejoicing. She is resting in perfect peace. Be comforted in knowing that Delores has loved and trusted God for a long time. It was her desire for her loved ones to find comfort in the following words:
When I come to the end of the
road and the sun has set for me,
I want no rites in a gloom-filled room,
Why cry for a soul set free?
Miss me a little--but not too long,
and not with your head bowed low.
Remember the love
that we once shared,
Miss me, but let me go.
For this is a journey
that we all must take,
And each must go alone.
It’s all a part of the Master’s plan,
A step on the road to home.
When you are
lonely and sick at heart,
Go to the friends we know.
Laugh at the things we used to do
Miss me--but let me go.
--author unknown
The legacy of Delores Caviness Brown lives on through all of those who hold her beloved, especially her devoted son-in-law Andre Barnes; stepdaughters Norma Paisley, and Sandra Bridges (Ernest); bonus daughter Millicent Joy Chung-Harris; stepson Louis Nathaniel Tucker, Sr. (Ruby); granddaughters Simone Monique Barnes, Debbie Brown, Lisa Paisley, Camille Bailey, and Mironda Reid née Tucker; grandsons Calieb Barnes, Jason Barnes, Evan Bridges, and Eric Bridges; and numerous great-grandchildren; goddaughter the Rev. Melinda Eleanor Weekes-Laidlow (Rev. Sekou Laidlow) and her brother William “Billy” Weekes; niece Debra Bridges (Keith) and her daughter LaQuanda Gipson, along with all of her beloved sister Helen’s children and grandchildren; cousins Barbara Caviness McSweeney (Mac), and Rayvon McSwain (Sharon); her caregiver Carol Harripersad; long time tenant turned family friend Raphael Gentles (Marrissa); friends Ruby Moore and Cassandra Irons (Phillip); her Butler Memorial United Methodist Church family; friends at Burke Avenue Baptist Church; and many, many caring family members, friends, and neighbors in the Bronx, Harlem, Westchester County NY, Brooklyn, North Carolina, Florida, California, Connecticut, Washington DC, Jamaica, West Indies, and beyond.
Delores Ophelia Caviness, affectionately known as Dee, Ms. Dee, or Mrs. Brown to her friends, and as Lois to her family, was born on August 26, 1928, in Greensboro, North Carolina, and raised in a small community in Randolph County known as Pleasant Hill. She attended her earliest schooling in that county, then after being orphaned at an early age with the passing of both her mother, Leonie Caviness in 1932, and then the passing of her grandmother Cordelia Caviness (née Strickland) in 1934, their grandfather, Mr. William Caviness, and his second wife Mrs. D’Etta Caviness, eventually moved the family, including Delores and her sister Helen (deceased), to Oakland, Florida in 1944.
Upon completion of high school, she moved to New York City to continue her education. In 1959, she graduated with honors from the New York Institute of Dietetics. She also attended Bronx Community College and New York University, majoring in Business Administration and Nutrition.
It was in New York that she met, and in 1949 married, Leon George Paisley (deceased) of Jamaica, West Indies. To this union was born their daughter Renee Anita Paisley (deceased), who became the beloved younger sister to Leon’s daughter Norma Paisley. Although Delores and Leon later divorced, they remained friends and a supportive family to one another and their children and grandchildren.
Delores worked for 46 years in various positions in hospitals and nursing homes. She has received several awards in recognition of her dedicated service and for implementing policies and procedures in the health field. Her positions have included: Clinical Dieticians and Supervisor at Albert Einstein Hospital, Assistant Director of Environmental Services at Morningside Nursing Home, and a member of the State Survey Team inspecting hospitals and nursing homes in the New York area until her retirement in 1995.
Ever the hard worker, in addition to her full-time job, she often held a part-time job at a department store such as Gimbels or John Wanamaker in Cross County Yonkers, NY, to put a little something away for a rainy day.
She was a very stylish, social, fashionably creative, and energetic person who enjoyed millinery designs and jewelry making, well-tailored clothing, and a well-kept home. Delores took great pride in maintaining the homes, cars, and clothing she owned and worked hard for over the years.
On September 18th, 1960, Delores joined Butler Memorial United Methodist Church. She loved her church family, and was a faithful, active member, having served on the Administrative Board, Committee on Lay Leadership, Bible Study Group (Wednesday mornings), United Methodist Women (Co-Chairperson of Membership), and North Carolina Club (Former President and Vice-President), and was honored in 2003 with a Church Service Award. She often talked about the wonderful fellowship and all of the programs and activities sponsored by the church. Whenever family and friends visited her, she always took them to church on Sunday to meet her church family.
In 1984, she married the love of her life, Philip Israel Brown (deceased). Their marriage was a precious union of love. As a Food Service Manager at a nursing home, and a Dietician in the same field, Philip and Delores shared many common interests. They enjoyed cooking and baking, spending time with their blended extended family and friends, and attending church. After his death in 1987, Burke Avenue Baptist Church, Philip’s home church in the Bronx, remained close and connected to Delores and her family to the present day.
Delores enjoyed being a busy “39-year-old” senior citizen. She was a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), and numerous Senior Citizens Centers. During the last three years of her life, she enjoyed gardening, jewelry making, choir practice, and social activities in the Kittay Senior Apartments in the Bronx where she resided.
She loved visiting family and friends. She made annual trips to Florida after the passing of her only sister Helen, to check on her nieces and nephews, especially Debra Gipson Bridges, and her daughter LaQuanda. She was always present at the family reunions, homecoming in North Carolina, and the beginning of revival at her hometown Methodist church in Pleasant Hill, NC (Randolph County).
She traveled to many places around the world, including Tanzania, Greece, Hawaii, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico, to name a few, and especially enjoyed cruises to the Caribbean Islands. Dancing was perhaps one of her favorite activities, along with attending a concert or theatre production, going on day trips and excursions, along with working on activity books, playing bingo, visiting family, dining out, watching movies, and chatting with friends.
Leaving the physical presence of family and friends is never an easy event, but we know it is an event that we all will attend one day. Delores transitioned peacefully on Friday, May 13th in the early morning hours at the Allen Pavillion hospital in Manhattan, NYC after suffering a massive stroke two weeks earlier. In those last weeks of her life, as was her prewritten wish, she rested quietly to the sounds of gospel music, and the prayers and comforting words of family, a few close friends, the hospital chaplain, and her pastor. At last, she will be reunited with her beloved daughter Renee Barnes née Paisley and Renee’s father Leon, her sister Helen Gipson Postell, her mother Leonie Caviness, her uncles Thomas “Tommy” and Jasper “Jack” Caviness, her best friend Eleanor Weekes and her daughter Akua Weekes, grandson Louis Nathaniel Tucker, Jr, and her beloved husband Philip, as well as a host of relatives and friends.
When Delores was born, she cried and we celebrated her arrival. Now, we are crying and she is rejoicing. She is resting in perfect peace. Be comforted in knowing that Delores has loved and trusted God for a long time. It was her desire for her loved ones to find comfort in the following words:
When I come to the end of the
road and the sun has set for me,
I want no rites in a gloom-filled room,
Why cry for a soul set free?
Miss me a little--but not too long,
and not with your head bowed low.
Remember the love
that we once shared,
Miss me, but let me go.
For this is a journey
that we all must take,
And each must go alone.
It’s all a part of the Master’s plan,
A step on the road to home.
When you are
lonely and sick at heart,
Go to the friends we know.
Laugh at the things we used to do
Miss me--but let me go.
--author unknown
The legacy of Delores Caviness Brown lives on through all of those who hold her beloved, especially her devoted son-in-law Andre Barnes; stepdaughters Norma Paisley, and Sandra Bridges (Ernest); bonus daughter Millicent Joy Chung-Harris; stepson Louis Nathaniel Tucker, Sr. (Ruby); granddaughters Simone Monique Barnes, Debbie Brown, Lisa Paisley, Camille Bailey, and Mironda Reid née Tucker; grandsons Calieb Barnes, Jason Barnes, Evan Bridges, and Eric Bridges; and numerous great-grandchildren; goddaughter the Rev. Melinda Eleanor Weekes-Laidlow (Rev. Sekou Laidlow) and her brother William “Billy” Weekes; niece Debra Bridges (Keith) and her daughter LaQuanda Gipson, along with all of her beloved sister Helen’s children and grandchildren; cousins Barbara Caviness McSweeney (Mac), and Rayvon McSwain (Sharon); her caregiver Carol Harripersad; long time tenant turned family friend Raphael Gentles (Marrissa); friends Ruby Moore and Cassandra Irons (Phillip); her Butler Memorial United Methodist Church family; friends at Burke Avenue Baptist Church; and many, many caring family members, friends, and neighbors in the Bronx, Harlem, Westchester County NY, Brooklyn, North Carolina, Florida, California, Connecticut, Washington DC, Jamaica, West Indies, and beyond.