Sister Mary Ignatius dies at 81: Jamaica Observer



Subject: Sister Mary Ignatius Davies is dead
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 01:02:32 -0500


Subject: Sister Mary Ignatius dies at 81

AP and Observer

SISTER Mary Ignatius, the nun who ran the Alpha orphanage for boys and served as a mentor to several influential Jamaican musicians, has died, a co-worker said yesterday. She was 81.

Ignatius suffered a heart attack Saturday and was taken to the University Hospital of the West Indies, where she died Sunday, Sister Maria Goretti of the Alpha Boys Home said.

Ignatius had a history of heart trouble, she said. The Roman Catholic nun had worked for more than 60 years at the orphanage in Kingston and had served as head mistress since the 1960s.

Born in Kingston, Ignatius began working at the orphanage in the early 1940s.

Her long and sterling efforts at the orphanage won her the Observer Distinguished Community Service Award in 1997.

Although she wasn't a musician herself, she made sure boys studied their instruments and learned to read and write music, said trumpeter Johnny Moore, a former member of the ska band The Skatalites, who got his start at the orphanage.

Ignatius is survived by her niece.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/

Posted: Wed - February 12, 2003 at 08:43 AM   Reggae   Articles   Feedback

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