"To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven." - Eclesiastes
On Tuesday, April 27th 1954 in the settlement of McKanns, Long Island, Cecil Garfield and Wilhelmina (nee Miller) Brice welcomed their second of three children. They named this beautiful baby girl, Corese Julitta. She was christened and confirmed at St. Joseph's Anglican Church in Thompson's Bay, Long Island.
After the death of their mother on Long Island in 1958, Corese and her two siblings, John and Deborah were raised by their grandparents, John and Mary Brice and later by their aunts Gladys, Kathleen and Ruth Brice. Corese grew up to become a beautiful woman and the most humble wife, mother, sister, niece, aunt, cousin, godmother, teacher and friend.
Corese attended McKanns All-Age School and it was here that she decided to pursue teaching as her vocation. So on November 9th, 1970 she began her career, one that would span 44years, starting as an untrained teacher. In January of 1973 she took a two year leave to study at the Bahamas Teacher's College, first at the campus on San Salvador and later at the campus here on New Providence.
After graduating from the Bahamas Teacher's College, Corese was sent to Sandilands Primary School on September 1st, 1975 where she spent one year. On August 30th, 1976 she was transferred to Palmdale Primary School and during her time there both her niece Julitta and nephew Geronimo were her students. On January 1st, 1981 she received her teacher's certificate in Primary Education. While most would have been satisfied with this, she was not and so she enrolled at the College of St. Benedict who had a satellite campus located here in New Providence and began attending night classes to earn a degree.
In September of 1987 she was granted study leave to finish her last semester at the College of St. Benedict's main campus in St. Joseph, Minnesota. On December 17th, 1987 she received her degree, a Bachelor's of Arts in Elementary Education. The following May under the proud eyes of her Aunt Gladys and niece Lakeisha, she travelled back to Minnesota to participate in the commencement ceremony. On January 4th, 1988 Corese was transferred to Oakes Field Primary School, where she remained until her untimely death.
Corese did not just teach in the classroom but served as an afterschool instructor from 1990-1992. In November of 2007 she was a judge for the South Eastern District Religious Studies speech competition. During the 2008-2009 school year she was the Religious Studies co-coordinator for Oakes Field Primary School and in 2013 she was a marker for the GLAT examinations. She was also involved in the Red Cross through Oakes Field Primary. Teaching was her passion and something that gave her great joy. She was committed to her students and they were her motivation that kept her going.
Corese was family-oriented and loved children. She enjoyed spending time with all of her nieces, nephew and young cousins. When her sister, Deborah pre-deceased her, she stepped in to help care for her niece, Lakeisha. While in New Providence, she resided with her aunt Gladys who was like a mother to her and her siblings until she married.
In 1991, Corese met Ricardo Woods, the man who would become her husband. On August 3rd 1992, they exchanged wedding vows at St. George's Anglican Church. In December 1999, this union was blessed with one son, Ricardo Jr. who became the apple of her eye.
Corese was a godly woman, someone who both knew and accepted the Lord in her life. She was a firm believer in the Anglican faith. This was exemplified by her being a hostess for St. John cell church group in the early years of the cell church ministry and by teaching Sunday School at St. George's Anglican Church where she was a member. She also taught Sunday School at Rhema International Family Development Center. Some of Corese's favorite past times were travelling with family and friends, reading, meeting new people, learning new things and keeping up to date with current events. Corese was caring, kind, thoughtful and always willing to give without expectation. She was the "gem" of her family and friends and was always on-the-go. Corese was present for almost every family gathering and knew everyone in her family and how they were related to her.
Corese had a smile that would light up a room, but behind that smile, she was faced with health issues that began in 2008. She became ill and was hospitalized during that time. But Corese did not let it deter her from carrying out her day to day activities. On Sunday January 25th, 2015 she became ill and was admitted at Princess Margaret Hospital. On Wednesday January 28th 2015, she took a turn for the worse and after 3 'o'clock in the afternoon, Corese quietly slipped away to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.