Obituary

God hath not promised skies always blue
Flower strewn pathways all our lives through
God hath not promised sun without rain
Joy without sorrow, peace with pain.
God hath not promised smooth roads and wide
Swift easy travel needing guide,
He hath not promised we shall not bear,
Many a burden, many a tear!

One month ago, we gathered and walked down that road of death. Today, as a family, here we are again, at that "old familiar place", gathered to pay our final respect to our loved one Ida. The last child of Sylvia Louise Johnson and Edward "Bulky" Deveaux (both deceased), this precious baby girl made her grand entrance into the world on 11th August, 1965. Named after her grandmother, she was baptized Ida Antoinette Deveaux.

Unlike, the two siblings (Gay and Godfrey – both deceased) whom she followed, Ida was fearless and many stories can be given by her cousins, Charmaine, Trevor and Chad-deceased, about their growing up days in Deveaux Street, under the watchful eyes of her mother and grandmother. However, watchful they were of Ida, she was always able to create havoc amongst the cousins, and when caught would be able to tell her story, convincingly. Her cousin Tannis, happily recall the many times, going out with Ida on weekends, shortly after graduating high school. Always a step ahead of the game, whenever a young man would come to the table asking for a dance, Ida would quickly nudge him saying "she needs a drink, and it has to be before she dance, so when she is tired, and comes off the dance floor her drink is here to cool her off" - this was to ensure that he had money to purchase a drink, before getting you sweaty on the dance floor. If he couldn't buy the drink, her cousin couldn't go on the dance floor. Ida always felt she was the protector, and knew how to work the system, on or off the dance floor. These times amongst the cousins made family gatherings, more enjoyable when the stories were repeated.

Ida loved her nieces, and would never plan a summer vacation, or any vacation, without including two or three of them. They loved their "Auntie Ida", and she would go the extra mile to ensure they were happy, and to see them with that smile on their faces. Whenever you visited from Freeport, Ida always felt that she had to give you something or make you feel like you shouldn't be leaving without her bearing you with a gift - or so it seemed. By the time you returned to Freeport and bragged to another family member about an outfit Ida gave you, they could describe the exact item, as she promised them the same one.
Ida received her education at Columbus Primary, C. H. Reeves and Government High School. After completing school she was employed at several places before joining the staff of B.T.C. in 1991, until the time of her death.

An exceptional and one-of-a-kind person, Ida was caring and kind-hearted. Affectionately called "Aunt Ida", family knew that whenever she did something she should not have done, they could always look forward to a token as her way of saying "I'm sorry". Whatever Ida did, she did with a passion. This was seen in her church participation at Resurrection Catholic Church, where she worshipped, and took an active part in many of the activities of the church, as well as her politics on the campaign trail during elections, working hard with the F. N. M. Party, to ensure that the person nominated to represent her constituency was elected.

Many of us may not have understood Ida, but for many of us, she will never be forgotten. She was a peculiar sister, niece, cousin, friend and even a co-worker, but her intentions were always of being kindhearted, generous and going the extra mile.