Obituary of Velma Hinds- Messam

Life Sketch Velma Beverley Hinds- Messam April 26, 1950 – December 7, 2024 Heaven paused and welcomed the birth of Velma Beverley on April 26, 1950 to Hazel Johnson Campbell, on the beautiful Island of Jamaica, West Indies! Beverley, Bevy, Sis, Ms. Velma, or “B” as she would later be affectionately called, would be the second of four daughters (Vivienne, Carol, Carmen) and the two younger sons (Sivland & Delmas) under their mother’s nurturing care. From her early years, Velma displayed the enviable virtues of a willing spirit, a gentle demeanor, and the most benevolent of hearts. These qualities coupled with her innate maternal instinct quickly and easily made her the “second mother” in our Aunt Inez’s home, where the siblings spent some of their childhood years. Faced with various challenges and obstacles throughout her life, she would brave them with the added virtues of a focused determination and a quiet, but fierce perseverance. The sum total of these qualities would be nurtured with every subsequent interaction and with every assigned task undertaken. Raised by a God-fearing mother and aunt, she developed a quiet, but unshakeable faith in God! This nurtured faith consistently gave evidence of the development of the fruit of the Spirit throughout her life. Her spiritual resolved coupled with those enviable qualities would inevitably characterize the woman and, more importantly, the person of Velma that would be loved and treasured as an angel on earth! Her migration to the United States, as a young adult, would see the fulfillment of her hopes, dreams, and aspirations. The qualities that earlier defined her, now defined the paths for her personal, educational, and professional achievements. Family meant everything to Velma, and as such, she committed her heart, her life, and her every resource to meet their every need. Whether you were her closest sibling or a far distant cousin, each received the same measure of love and benevolence. Once, upon her return to her aunt’s home in Jamaica, she ensured that every family member, along with everyone boarding there, was the recipient of a wrist watch from the United States. This was Velma, whatever your need, small or great, she provided for them, even if it meant depriving herself of some basic needs of her own. Velma’s love for her mother was unrivaled! They had developed a bond far beyond the mother – daughter relationship! They became friends and confidants! They would spend hours in conversation talking about the trivial and the sublime. Later in their friendship, Velma would summon every ounce of energy to ensure that her mom received the love, affection and the comforts of life that she did not enjoy in her earlier years. Fulfilling her mother’s dream of returning to Jamaica and residing in a beautiful and well-furnished home of her own, on the family’s estate, was largely due to Velma’s generosity. Velma’s entire life would be marked by such simple, and more often magnanimous acts of unselfish kindness! To an earlier marriage, heaven blessed the womb of Velma with the birth of her first and only child, Fatima Aiesha (Sherod – Stanley) on May 14, 1977. Fatima became the concentrated focus of her mother’s affection and attention. The aforementioned qualities were poured into Fatima in copious measures, being lovingly attentioned at every moment of her life and being spared no resource to ensure her well-being and future success. Velma’s quiver would be enlarged as Fatima gave birth to three “pearls of great price” fittingly named Rayima, Dahmira, and Beverley. Each granddaughter would become the beneficiary of equal portions of love, pride, and joy from the depths of their grandmother’s (Pookie/Kiki) heart. In her later years, she met and married Gilbert Washington Messam on June 22, 2002. They would continue sharing their hearts, building their home, and caring for their family for twenty- two years until his untimely death on February12, 2022. Velma’s qualities destined her for a life of service where she would daily tend to the need and care of others. To this end, she pursued a course of study in the field of medicine and would later graduate from the Essex County Community College, as a Licensed Practical Nurse. Over the next forty years, she would tend to the needs of countless patients working at the Burlington Woods Nursing Home, Bayada Healthcare, Willingboro High School, and for the State of New Jersey Division of Developmental Disabilities Community Care Provider. Whether in the hospital, at a school, or one of her at-home clients, Nurse Velma treated every patient as an individual as if he/she was the only patient needing her medical attention or her tender care. Meeting their needs, enhancing their quality of life, speaking a gentle and kind word, and showing Christ-like loving kindness, was how she ministered to each of her patients. Velma lived a life that brought joy and satisfaction to her heart as she saw the lives she touched achieved success in their goals and ambitions. She lived each day of her entire life embracing the mantra that it was “more blessed to give than to receive,” knowing that her heavenly Father “loves a cheerful giver.” In her every act of kindness, she did not seek any earthly reward because she was confident that “in her Father’s house are many mansions,” and that she would one day be heir to “a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give her on that day.” Heaven paused yet again, as during the blessed and peaceful early hours of Sabbath, December 7, 2024, Velma Beverley Hinds-Messam quietly passed away in her sleep as she breathed her last breath. She died the way she lived, in peace and harmony with her family, friends and loved ones. She leaves to cherish her memory: her daughter Fatima Sherod- Stanley; her granddaughters Rayima Sherod, Dahmira Stanley, and Berverley Stanley; her siblings: Vivienne Anderson, Carol Dunn (Charles), Carmen Campbell, and Delmas Campbell (Nadine); her only surviving aunt, Alveda Johnson; her nieces: Stephanie Dunn Martin (Carlton), Eleanor Dunn-Yarbrough, Treana-Kae Campbell, and Berlecia Charlemagne; her great-niece: Ella-Grace Yarbrough; her nephews: Russel Anderson, Walter Anderson, and Charles Dunn Jr.; great-nephews: Winston Anderson and Carlton-Kennedy Martin; close cousins Balmaine Broderick (Yvonne), Murlena McKenzie (Henry), and Lackett Cuff (Carmen); a host of other dear cousins, coworkers, church family members, and life-long friends. She was preceded in death by her loving mother Hazel Johnson Campbell; her second mother (Aunt Inez Francis); her husband Gilbert Messam, and her brother Sivland Charles Campbell. “Now, here lies a noble soul! Good night, sweet princess!” Your guardian angel now marks and watches over your grave as you await your savior’s trumpet sound! Then you will rise again and meet us on the Sea of Glass, never more to part! Until then, “may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!” “Blessed are they who die in the Lord…that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.” Rev.14:13 Written by Delmas “Damps” Campbell (Brother) Lovingly submitted by her siblings (Vivienne, Carol, Carmen) On behalf of the entire family