Viola Elizabeth Dyce's Obituary
Viola Elizabeth Dyce was born on August 23, 1921, and called to rest on August 5, 2022, just short of her 101st birthday. Viola attended technical school in Kingston, Jamaica, where she became a talented seamstress and worked in that occupation for a number of years. She met Leo Alphonso Dyce at the age of 16 years old. They fell in love and married six years later.
The marriage produced four sons, three of whom were born in Jamaica, and the youngest in the United States, where they had migrated to in 1948.
Viola was always interested in acquiring a higher education, first for her four boys, as well as for her husband and herself. That is what prompted them to leave Jamaica and come to the United States. After making sure her four boys had at least their bachelor’s degrees she enrolled herself in college while working as a dressmaker and eventually with the New York City Department of Social Services. While with the department, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree from The College of New Rochelle. She was subsequently promoted to the position of supervisor/administrative assistant. She remained there till she retired in 1984, and moved to Florida with her loving devoted husband, Leo.
Viola and her husband, Leo have always been very active in the church and the community of Palm Bay, Florida. On many occasions when the church needed extra financial assistance, Viola raised money by cooking and selling Jamaican dinners. This became a tradition, and she was able to assist in financing projects from recarpeting the church to fixing pews.
After Leo’s demise, Viola along with her family and friends established a scholarship fund at the church for students entering college. Thousands of dollars were raised and distributed to many grateful students.
Viola was an outgoing woman with many hobbies and interests. She was involved with the Greater Palm Bay Senior Center participating in various exercise and craft classes for many years. Her love of gardening and flowers were evident when you drove by her house, experiencing an outdoors tropical paradise of banana, mango, papaya, avocado, persimmons, ackee, and orange and grapefruit trees. Viola loved cooking and entertaining family and friends with her signature dishes of rice and peas, dumplings, ackee and codfish, and her seasonal Jamaican fruitcake. In her quiet moments of life, she loved reading, working on word search puzzles, and writing birthday cards and letters to her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and to her friends who became family.
She is survived by her four sons, Dennis (Barbara), Trevor (Kim), Byron (Kathy), Leo Jr. (Mary Ann); Daughter of the heart, Hyacinth; 2 sisters-in-law Hilda and Una; 13 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
A Celebration of Viola’s life will be held on Friday, August 12, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. at CampusView Church 2720 SW 2nd Ave. Gainesville, FL with Elder Randy Scott. Entombment will be held on Saturday, August 13, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Florida Memorial Gardens 5950 US-1 Rockledge, FL. The family will receive friends on Thursday, August 11, 2022, at Williams Thomas Westarea 823 NW 143rd St. Newberry, FL. from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00
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