One of Barbados’ newest centenarians, Mrs. Imelda Skeete, celebrated her birthday on February 15, 2025, at her home in Rock Hall, St. Lucy, surrounded by her 12 children, their respective families, close friends, and church members.
President of Barbados, Her Excellency, The Most Honourable Dame Sandra Mason, was one of Mrs. Skeete’s special guests.
On meeting Mrs. Skeete, Her Excellency enquired if she felt “lucky’ to have reached 100, to which she replied: “Please God, if it didn’t please God, I wouldn’t be here.”
Noting the size of the centenarian’s family, Dame Sandra remarked: “I used to think my family of nine was a lot, but I have never seen 12 children in one place in all my life, and while I am congratulating your mum, I want to congratulate all of you.”
In her tribute, Paula Phillips described her grandmother as “honest, resilient, peaceful, feisty, selfless and loving”. Mrs. Phillips shared that the centenarian “comes from a line of long-livers” as Mrs. Skeete’s grandmother reached 100, and her mother lived to her 90s.
Mrs. Phillips also shared that during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, her grandmother, at the age of 96, damaged her hip after a fall and underwent hip replacement surgery. She remarked that it was due to her grandmother’s “strength and resilience” that she “successfully recovered…and was soon walking again in a few days.”
Paying tribute to her mother, Lynthia Skeete recalled that although she “was the disciplinarian in the family”, her father was always the one to administer the punishment.
Noting that her mother had been a Christian all her life, Mrs. Skeete said the centenarian made sure she and her siblings attended Church on Sundays in the morning and in the evening. “You had to go back at night….you know how it was in the olden days,” she added.
In his tribute, Melvin Skeete remarked that his mother “never showed any favouritism to any of her kids”. “She made sure all of us felt loved and taken care of,” he said.
He continued: “I was never interested in education as a child or teenager, I was more interested in sports or music and got kicked out of school at age 16…and she said ‘nope…you are going back to school’…. When the school opened on the Monday morning, she took me back to school and I had to apologise to the headmaster.
“The others that were with me, who got kicked out of school, they never went back. Their parents never took them back and I started paying attention to education after that…. I want to thank her for making sure we were all taken care of…. I love you mum.”
Born in Crab Hill St. Lucy, Mrs. Skeete (nee Brathwaite) moved to Rock Hall, St. Lucy, in 1948. At the age of 20, she married Luton Skeete and together they raised 12 children.
A seamstress by profession, Mrs. Skeete felt nothing should get in the way of her attending church. She shared that while they were dating, Mr. Skeete had to go to church with her because she was not giving up church to spend time with him.
“I came up in church from a little school girl…. I would sing a song and testify, and people would clap, and they would hug me and tell me ‘keep up your good work’…. From childhood years, I was in the house of God and I ain’t turn back,” she said.
Her favourite foods include ground provisions, fish, soup, coconut bread, and Christmas Cake (fruit cake), while malt and Plus are two of her favourite drinks.
When asked by Her Excellency what contributed to her reaching 100, Mrs. Skeete responded: “It is the way I lived…. I used to go to church all my life. When I was in school, I would run from school on evenings to get a lift with those going to church, so I do not get left behind.”
Reflecting on the 12 children being in one room to celebrate their mother’s 100th birthday, Dame Sandra commented: “This is a great occasion. Consider yourselves very, very fortunate, and it is something to write down in your own history books. She can still remember things…. People like your gran here are the true historians…and they can tell you how things happen…. You can sit down and engage her.”
Mrs. Skeete has twelve children, one stepdaughter, 23 grandchildren (including two from her stepdaughter), 10 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
