Hundreds pay last respects to Guyanese community worker Minerva Beaton

Hundreds of Caribbean and other nationals on Oct. 24 flocked the pews of St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church on Hawthorne Street in Brooklyn to pay their last respects to respected Guyanese-born, Brooklyn community worker Minerva Beaton, who died on Oct. 6.  She was 66.

Nationals and relatives paid tributes in speeches, scriptures, prayers, hymns and songs, as well as on steel pan and drums, during the near two-hour-long service that was presided over by the church’s Jamaican-born rector, the Rev. Canon Donovan Ivanhoe Leys. The Rev. Dr. Andrea Moore-Smith, the Barbadian-American pastor at Bethany United Methodist Church in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, delivered the homily.

“She brought wisdom, she brought grace in every space, nurturing us all with her in-sight,” said Neil McGowan in eulogizing his sister.  “Minerva was a child of Guyana. She had an innate ability to touch the life of everyone around us.

“Her laughter, her love, her unwavering strength – she could lighten the darkest of days,” he added. “Her love to our family, bringing hope and love, making us stronger, making us more bold – Minerva’s life was of sacrifice and love.

The funeral program of Minerva Beaton.Photo by Nelson A. King

“Minerva, your memory will live on in each of us,” McGowan continued. “In life, you showed how to face challenges with love. In you, we saw the glory that life can bring. You left us, but your spirit will remain. You are our sunshine. Knowing you is a blessing.”

He then asked mourners to stand and repeat after him, in part: “I pledge to honor by sharing kindness and embody the love.”

Mourners un-hesitantly obliged.

Before reading Revelation 21:1-7, Petal McKenzie said: “With a heavy heart, I stand here to read the Scripture, missing my 9th sister.”

Christian Beaton, Minerva’s brother-in-law, said: “She will live on in our hearts. At this time, I want us to reflect on the person she was. Don’t be sad because she’s gone.”

Min. John Williams, the Guyanese-born president of the Flatbush, Brooklyn-based New Creation Empowerment, Inc., said that Beaton was a specialist in food preparation, and that she was “a good person.”

Christopher Bryant plays the organ. Photo by Nelson A. King

After singing “It Is Well with My Soul”, Elaine Nelson asked rhetorically: “Is it well with your soul?”

Then, the service erupted with sustained applause after Min. Christael Richards offered a heart-rendering “The Goodness of God.”

Flanked by her brother, Kevin, Denica said their father, Douglas Beaton, “stayed as a devoted father, and he honored her.”

“Daddy, your love for mom is going to get us through,” she said to applause. “She was the mother to the motherless. I want to say thank you to the village.

“God is real,” Denica added. “Let’s treat us with love and kindness.

“In the midst of her (Beaton) pain, she will say, ‘For the Goodness of God’,” she continued. “Know God for yourself. Treat people with kindness.”

Jamaican-born the Rev. Heidi Thomas, who had worshipped with Beaton at Fenimore Street United Methodist Church (FSUMC), said: “We admired her for all the things she did at Bethel (United Methodist Church in Brooklyn).”

Beaton, along with FSUMC’s Family Life Committee members, prepared and served hot breakfasts, on Thursdays, at Bethel United Methodist Church for homeless men at the nearby Bedford Amory on Atlantic and Bedford avenues in Brooklyn.

FSUMC’s pastor, the Rev. Roger Jackson, as well as members of that and other churches, including Vanderveer Park United Methodist Church, where Beaton last worshipped, were also among mourners.

In her homily, Rev. Moore-Smith, who had also worshipped with Beaton at FSUMC, said that “when I think of her, in spite of all she was going through, she will greet you with a smile”, asking mourners to “stand and give God thanks in the sanctuary.”

She then struck up “Every Praise to our God,” with mourners joining in lustily.

“When we look at the life of Sis. Minerva, she gave us all,” Rev. Moore-Smith said. “You didn’t know she was in pain, because she didn’t show it. So, we have to look at how we’re doing things.

“The Lord has called us to be his head and feet,” she added. “We’re just here to share the good news of Jesus Christ.”

Kareem Thompson plays “Amazing Grace” on a steel pan.Photo by Nelson A. King

According to the obituary, Minerva Eugene Veronica Beaton, née McCowan, was born on Jan. 11, 1958, in Georgetown, the Guyanese capital.

It says that Beaton began her journey with “a foundation rooted in creativity and curiosity,” and that, as a child, she attended Comenius Moravian School and joined the Brownies, “where she discovered her love for arts, crafts and home economics.

“She embraced these early interests and honed them into lifelong skills, blossoming into a creative and dedicated homemaker with a flair for transforming simple materials into beautiful creations,” the obituary says.

After migrating to Brooklyn, at 14, the obituary says Beaton graduated from Erasmus High School in East Flatbush, Brooklyn; studied at Mount St. Vincent University in Nova Scotia, Canada; then graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in nutrition and food service management from Brooklyn College, City University of New York. She subsequently became a New York State Certified Dietitian.

The obituary says Beaton met “the love of her life”, her compatriot Douglas Beaton, on Feb. 29, 1976, during her senior year in high school, and they wed on Sept. 6, 1980. Until Minerva’s death, the couple were married for 44 uninterrupted years.

Beaton dedicated over 30 years to NYC Department of Education’s Office of School Food and Nutrition Services, retiring as a respected district supervisor after overseeing one of the city’s larger school districts for 20 years, the obituary says.

During her treks to her native Guyana, the obituary says Beaton often visited Uncle Eddie’s Home for Seniors, “where she served meals and expressed genuine gratitude to the staff, fostering a sense of community and care.”

As an active member of the NYC Chapter of the Allied Organization of Guyana, U.S.A., the obituary says Beaton “helped coordinate numerous fundraising events, delivering toys to the underprivileged children and supporting improvements at Uncle Eddie’s home.”

It says Beaton’s charitable efforts reached even further – to residents of homeless shelters throughout New York City.

During Easter, Christmas and Thanksgiving, the obituary says Beaton organized hot meals and essential supplies.

It says Beaton’s Thanksgiving drives were “especially impactful, as she coordinated the distribution of over 500 cakes, scores of turkeys, and countless meals to two Brooklyn churches and their communities.”

For over 30 years, the obituary says Beaton was “a dedicated member of the United Methodist Church in Brooklyn, where she “actively contributed to various ministries.”

“Minerva’s life was a beacon of compassion, dedication and love,” the obituary says. “Her home was a sanctuary of warmth and faith, where everyone felt seen, heard and supported. Her kindness, generosity and unwavering commitment to those around her touched countless lives.

“Her legacy of love and service will continue to inspire all who were blessed to know her, living on in the hearts she so profoundly touched,” it adds.

Beaton’s body was interred on Oct. 25 at Holy Cross Cemetery on Tilden Avenue in Brooklyn.