Ursula Sobers is the toast of her Black
Sage Alley, St. Lucy district, and there is a street named after her to prove
it.
The affable semi-super centenarian proudly
boasts that she is a celebrity in her own right. “I tell my daughter that me and Rihanna are
celebrities. The two of us have roads
named after us.”
Ursula is the cousin of the late Prime
Minister the Right Excellent Errol Walton Barrow, aunt of the late Dr. Rameses
Caddle and great aunt of Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and
Investment, Marsha Caddle.
Educated at St. Clement’s Girls’ School,
Urusla worked as a labourer at several plantations in St. Lucy, including
Spring Hall, Lamberts, Pickering and Welch Town until retirement.
In her spare time, she sewed trendy
clothes for her children and other relatives.
Ursula met and later married Beresford
Sobers, who is now deceased. The couple
had three children, one is deceased. She
also had three children with her partner Ebenezer Sobers.
Altogether, Ursula has 13 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and five great-great grandchildren
A devout worshiper at St. Clement’s
Anglican Church, Ursula was a member of the Mother’s Union and sang alto in the
Church’s choir.
With very little prompting from her
daughter Mary Sobers, Ursula sang three verses of the popular Christmas Carol, While Shepherds Watched Their Flock By
Night. She said she loves Christmas, especially the singing of traditional
carols.
“I miss the singing of carols because at
this time I would be busy with practice and preparing for midnight mass, but I
am not able to go anywhere now.”
Mary recalled her mother’s devotion to
church. She disclosed that her mother
had two white church dresses and used her sewing skills every Saturday night to
apply colouful lace to various parts of the dress to make the style look fresh
each time.
She said her mother loved her children dearly
and was a good provider.