By Wendella Davidson

AT the stroke of the clock at midnight on May 20, 2020, Ina Beryl Holder, once again etched her name in this country’s history books as Guyana’s oldest supercentenarian, having reached 112-years-old. She is also the oldest living member of the Anglican Diocese.

Fondly called ‘Aunt Ina,’ she had also in 2008 created history as being the oldest secretary when at the age of 100 years, she retired from the position of secretary/librarian at the Anglican Diocese Centre, located in Kingston.
Days before Aunt Ina reached this new milestone, an elated Virginia-based Suzanne Davidson Plummer began chronicling aspects of her life as a tribute to her and rightly so, having lived some 40 years of her life under the same roof with Aunt Ina.

According to the mother of three, it was in 1971, at age seven years that she went to live with her adoptive mother, Iris Irma Moe Craig. Aunt Ina was a good friend of Craig and had been living there for a while before she arrived. And, even at the death of her adoptive mother on October 19, 1993, Suzanne said that Aunt Ina remained with her.

Suzanne likened Aunt Ina as a woman who began her day by `saying prayers on her knees’ and exercising, a disciplinarian who set high standards for herself and others, even she, Suzanne. She said Aunt Ina loved her as if she were her own `flesh and blood.’
“She is not a bitter person but rather a jolly soul…at about 100 years, she always bought makeup and jewellery… she never counted herself ‘out of the game of life.’

She would quickly get into conversation with a visitor about their hairstyle, dress, shoes or makeup, or would enquire about things that would look good on her. She closely examined people’s clothes, if they let her, to ascertain whether she could make ithem. She had loved to sew and had several paper dress patterns she kept and used when sewing any one of her stylish dresses.

Another of her fantasies was engaging women in conversation about nail polish and about the virtues of the different types of nail polish remover or other fanciful things that she loved. Suzanne said she thoroughly enjoyed those moments, as it gave her time to be not coiled up and with her head buried in a newspaper or a book.

Many skills
“Aunt Ina was competent in book-keeping, shorthand and typing. She sewed not just her clothes, but was always making some gift for someone with her fancy sewing machine, which allowed her to make lots of designs. She did embroidery and also crochet, made paper beads and strung them to make window blinds and did book-binding as well. I remember her painting her bedroom and the fence surrounding our house. She went out of her comfort zone and even made a bra or two for herself,” said Suzanne. She also recalled that the first long pants she wore were made by Aunt Ina.

Suzanne recalled that Aunt Ina excelled in covering umbrellas, which she called parasols and that made more money doing this than any of the other jobs she did. She also knew how to to repair them. She even experimented with covering shoes, but was not so good at it, while her cooking needed some work, Suzanne said.

Pet peeves
Aunt Ina believed in class’ and would say things such as, “child don’t eat or drink while walking on the road”, as she did not see that as proper. Also, she viewed as a matter of disrespect, a young man slowly riding a bicycle alongside a woman who was walking. In addition, she hated to see men wearing caps with the peak at the back, and the absolute worst was to see men wearing their pants with no belt and their pants hanging almost off of their butts, actually showing their underwear.

She noted that Aunt Ina also hated to see women with a large splash of white powder very visible on their chests, with no effort made to rub it off or make it blend in. Aunt Ina would say “they don’t even have to open their mouth for you to find out who they are, that powder right there, is a sure giveaway.” Additionally, Aunt Ina was not easily drawn to people who did not speak properly, even though she understood their circumstances. It was even harder for someone to get into her inner circle if they didn’t speak properly, she recalled.

Suzanne recalled the mantra of Aunt Ina, who was never married and had no children: if you didn’t occupy your time wisely “you would just waste your time on earth.”
In her prime, she was prudent with spending her finances, loved fruits and had a liking for soup, wanting to put almost everything inside, including what she referred to as the golden bones or bone marrow. She loved marmite, Weetabix, and also indulged in ice cream which she called “ cream and cake.” Milk was a favourite drink, particularly fresh cows’ milk.

As age 102, Aunt Ina was still able to read the newspapers without spectacles. She is also very organised and had a special drawer where clothes, toiletries and money, could have easily been found if and when needed.

Aunt Ina, who is the aunt of Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder, now spends her days either sleeping and when she’s alert, can be seen sitting in her wheelchair, taking in the roadside scenery.