Sunrise – February 25th 1959
Sunset – January 23rd 2024
Age: 64
Service held at CHURCH OF GOD OF PROPHECY
Shirley Street
Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas on
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17TH 2024 AT 10:00 A.M.
Officiating: Pastor timothy Johnson
Assisted by: aPostle Joan samPson
Interment:
lakeview memorial Gardens and mausoleums
John F. Kennedy Drive
Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas
In the quaint settlement of Arthur’s Town, Cat Island, in The Bahamas on the 25th day of February 1959, a beautiful bouncing baby girl was born to the Late Henry and Winifred Miller. She was the last of her siblings and was christened at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church also located in Arthur’s Town. She grew up in a quiet respectable Christian home and being the baby of the family, she was loved and spoiled by her other siblings.
Her love for children and helping others resulted in her fostering other children, all whom she nurtured and cared for. She taught them to cook, clean and the value of being responsible adults in society. Donna was a mother to many and hence the honor of being named, ‘Mother Donna’.
Donna attended the Arthur’s Town All Age School on Cat Island where she excelled in academics. Upon graduation, she relocated to Nassau, New Providence to further her education and at that time, she took up residence with her family, the Late Irene Adderley. Soon after she enrolled in the then College of The Bahamas where she pursued studies in the discipline of Teacher’s Education with aspirations of one day becoming a teacher. This pursuit was short lived due to her love and passion for secretarial work which then led to in her enrollment in a Business Studies College to prepare her for a career as a secretary.
In 1981, Donna was blessed with her one and only child, Novardo Moss whom she loved dearly and with her whole heart. She was a good mother and did everything possible to ensure that her son had a good upbringing, education and lacked nothing. Everything was about her and ‘Vardo’ (as he is affectionally called) and whatever it took to make their lives easier and better, she did.
Donna began working at The Ministry of Works on November 8th, 1980, as a Laborer, assigned to the license plate section.
On September 16, 1985, she transferred to the Transport Division under the direct supervision of Bishop Rudolph V. Bowe, Senior Superintendent where she spent 21 years under his leadership. Following her long service in that division, Donna was promoted to the position of Clerk in April 1997 and after working diligently she was later promoted to Senior Clerk in September 2000.
Donna always embraced change and later transferred to the Architectural Division of The Ministry of Works in February 2001 where she worked under the supervision of Mr. Livingston Forbes.
In July 2003 Donna was promoted to the position of Chief Clerk.
In December 2017, Donna served under the supervision of Mr. Timothy Johnson in the Architectural Division. Her last promotion took place in December 2023 to the position of Executive Officer. After serving with excellency for 43 years in the civil service, Donna began her pre-retirement leave in July 2023.
On January 23rd, 2024, Donna received her last earthly promotion and transitioned to her eternal reward.
Mother Donna was a devout Christian. ‘Mother Donna’ as she was called by her church family loved worshipping and serving her God. She re-directed her life and began attending Effective Life Changers Inner Healing and Deliverance Ministry where she held the positions of Women’s President, Elder and Mother of the Church under the leadership of Bishop Osmond and Apostle Joan Sampson until her demise.
Mother Donna loved cooking and her cooking skills were second to none. She would cook for her church family and for persons in her community.
At Christmas, she would prepare most of the food for the Miller Family dinners and despite being the youngest of her siblings, Mother Donna took control whenever there was a family gathering, making sure that everyone had something to eat. Her presence will surely be missed at future family gatherings.
Donna made many friends during her sojourn on earth. Some friendships started as early as the late 1970’s which lasted to her demise. Donna loved helping others and would do so in whatever way she could oftentimes enlisting the help of her siblings to achieve her heart’s desires. She looked out for others up to the very end of her life here on this earth.
Donna was admitted to hospital on January 8th, 2024, where she remained until her demise on January 23rd 2024 ~ absent from the body but present with the Lord.
LEFT TO CHERISH HER WONDERFUL MEMORIES HER ON EARTH ARE:
SON – Novardo Moss
ADOPTED CHILDREN – Katrina (Kip) Gilbert, Sharonique Ashley, Ricardo and TaShawn Major and Latoya Hanna.
SIBLINGS – Joyce Miller, Betty Reckley, Kaye Forbes, Sarahlee and Harold Miller.
STEP-BROTHER – Leonard Adderley (Barbara)
NIECES – Barbara, Tracy, Joy, and Melody Miller (USA), Teneisha and Sariyah Reckley, Kashanna Forbes, Karen Josue, Janelle and Tamla Morrison, Shannelle (Eugene)
DePass, Krystal, Kristlyn, Kaitlyn Adderley, Andrea (Carroll) Hepburn, Henrietta Richardson, Janet (Sean)
Lewis, Gercle Miller, Vellecia (Lindrick) Dougla, Kerry, Clover, Kaylene & Candida Bonamy.
NEPHEWS – Godfrey Miller (USA), Donovan, Ramon, Doyle (Tanya), and Jourdan Miller, Lealdo (Christine) and Lance (Sofia) Seymour, Nikos and Santino (NaKeisha)
Evans, Alex and Sharron Reckley, Stefan (Katrina), Shamaal (Tiann) and Sharrad Forbes, Sheldon and Krishner
Adderley, Dale Nairn, Mark Rose, Louis, Kevin, Sean and Boyd, Barry, Christopher, Kingsley, Melvin Bonamy, Keith and Charles Miller.
NUMEROUS GRAND-NIECES, GRAND-
NEPHEWS AND GOD-CHILDREN Santino
Evans Jr or Professor as she affectionally called him
Family of the late Birdie Farah – Doris Newbold, Daisy Baillou, John and Albert Larrimore, Evangeline Gibson, Rebecca Williams, William, Samuel and Joel Miller, Elizabeth Bonimy and Jephthah Armbrister. Family of the late Kerro Forbes – Barbara Campbell and family, Family of the late Samuel & Julia Lightbourn, Campbell’s Family, Classmates of Arthurs Town All Age School, Dean’s Family, Webb Family, Delores Simms and Family, Maoeni Webb and Family, Dotlyn Storr and Family, Garnel
Gregory and family, Alice Johnson and Family, Andrew & Lilis Thompson and family, Carnisha Rolle-Delores, Trudy
Sands and family, Tyrone Archer Jr, Toni and Telsene
Thompson and family, Dora-Dario and Dalton Reckley, Roshelle Miller and family, Sharon Major, Deconess
Audrey Taylor and family, Kathy Nesbitt and family, Midamae Watson and family, Beulah, Donna and Michael Forbes, Beatrice Brown and family, Bernadette Gibson, Claudette Munore, Sandra and family, Patricia McKenzie, Gwendolyn Lewis, Mona, Melvena Munroe, Agatha King, Philippa Willie, Coerbell Family, Annette Wlysses, Julia Lightbourn, Alisa Ingraham and family, John Brown and Family, Apostle Joan Sampson and members of PTO Effect Life Changers Inner Healing and Deliverance ministry, Hazel, Gelva, Delcina Marshall and family, Portia and family, Lisa and Mrs. Miller and family, Mr. Bennet Minnis and Family, Kathy, Ashley, Lisa Ingraham and Family, Glen and Evelyn, Family of the late Curlean Forbes, Lisa Rose Douglas,
NEIGHBORS – Roitlea, Dell, Ms Miller, Lisa and other Lisa – Donella K, Rochelle and Lithera Reckley, Architecture Section, Gwendolyn Johnson, Carlos Williams – Mona and Sandra and family
SPECIAL THANKS TO Bishop Laish Boyd for anointing and praying for the body and with the family. Dr. Ward and nurses form the gynae ward.
You can only have one Mother Patient, kind and true; No other friend in all the world, Will be the same to you.
When other friends forsake you, To mother you will return, For all her loving kindness, She asks nothing in return.
As we look upon her picture, Sweet memories we recall, Of a face so full of sunshine, And a smile for one and all.
Sweet Jesus, take this message, To our dear Mother up above; Tell her how we miss her, And give her all our love.
With love from your son, Novardo Moss
MUSICAL INTERLUDE ............................................................................................................................... Heavenly Melodies
PROCESSION OF FAMILY
RECEPTION OF THE BODY
OPENING SENTENCES............................................................................................................................................................
Jesus said, I am the resurrection, and I am the life; he who believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live, and who ever lives and believes in me shall never die. John 11:25-26
MODERATOR Minister
OPENING HYMN ..................................................................................................................................................... “It Is Well”
When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot Thou hast taught me to say, “It is well, it is well with my soul!”
It is well with my soul! It is well, it is well with my soul!
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Let this blest assurance control, That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
It is well with my soul! It is well, it is well with my soul!
My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought— My sin, not in part, but the whole, Is nailed to His Cross, and I bear it no more; Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
It is well with my soul! It is well, it is well with my soul!
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live; If dark hours about me shall roll, No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
It is well with my soul! It is well, it is well with my soul!
PRAYER OF INVOCATION .......................................................................................................................Minister Deshan Cash
OLD TESTAMENT READING (Ecclesiastes 3: 1-9)
SOLO
NEW TESTAMENT READING (1st Cor. 15:50-58)
TRIBUTE........................................................................................................................................
SOLO
Ms. Janelle Morrison (niece)
Mr. John Brown
Mr. Shamaal Forbes (nephew)
Glen Dean & Evelyn Johnson
New Dynamic Features
AS I KNEW HER ...................................................................................................................... Julia Lightbourne/Delores Simms
OBITUARY Read in Silence
CONDOLENCES (2 mins) Ministry of Works Representative & Mother Thoy Rahming
MOMENTS OF PRAISE .................................................................................................................................... ELC Praise Team
EULOGY
Apostle Joan N. Sampsom Senior Pastor/Effective Life Changes
Inner Healing & Deliverance Ministry Int’l
PRAYER FOR THE FAMILY....................................................................................................................... Pastor Terkisha Smith
SONG OF VICTORY/RECESSIONAL HYMN ..............................................................................................“Glad Reunion Day”
Verse 1
There will be a happy meeting
In heaven I know
When we see the many loved ones
We’ve known here below
Gather on the blessed hilltops
With hearts all aglow
That will be a glad reunion day
Chorus
Glad day a wonderful day
Glad day a glorious day
There with all the holy angels
And loved ones to stay
That will be a glad reunion day
GRAVESIDE HYMNS
Verse 1
There’s a line
Verse 2
There within the holy city
We’ll sing and rejoice
Praising Christ the blessed Savior
With heart and with voice
Tell Him how we came to love Him
And make Him our choice
That will be a glad reunion day
Verse 3
When we live a million years
In that wonderful place
Basking in the love of Jesus
Beholding His face
It will seem but just a moment
Of praising His grace
That will be a glad reunion day
That’s been drawn through the ages
On that line stands the old rugged cross
On that cross a battle is raging
For the gain of man’s soul or his loss
Chorus
It is finished, the battle is over
It is finished, there’ll be no more war
It is finished, the end of the conflict
It is finished, and Jesus is Lord
Verse 2
On one side march the forces of evil
All the demons and devils of hell
On the other the angels of glory
And they meet on Golgotha’s hill
Verse 3
The earth shakes with the force of the conflict
And the sun refuses to shine
For there hangs God’s Son in the balance
And then through the darkness He cries
Verse 4
Yet in my heart the battle was raging
Not all pris’ners of war have come home
They were battlefields of my own making
Didn’t know that the war had been won
Verse 5
Then I heard that the King of the Ages
Had fought all the battles for me
And vict’ry was mine for the claiming
And now praise His name I am free
“It is Finished”
GRAVESIDE HYMNS ”Glad Reunion Day”
Verse 1
There will be a happy meeting
In heaven I know
When we see the many loved ones
We’ve known here below
Gather on the blessed hilltops
With hearts all aglow
That will be a glad reunion day
Chorus
Glad day a wonderful day
Glad day a glorious day
There with all the holy angels
And loved ones to stay
That will be a glad reunion day
Verse 2
There within the holy city
We’ll sing and rejoice
Praising Christ the blessed Savior
With heart and with voice
Tell Him how we came to love Him
And make Him our choice
That will be a glad reunion day
Verse 3
When we live a million years
In that wonderful place
Basking in the love of Jesus Beholding His face
It will seem but just a moment Of praising His grace
That will be a glad reunion day
GRAVESIDE HYMNS ”City of Gold”
Verse 1
There’s A City That Looks-- Over The Valley Of Death
And It’s Glory Has Never Been Told, Where The Lamb Is The Light--In The Midst Of The Night In That Beautiful City Of Gold
Chorus
Where The Sun Never Sets
Where The Sun Never Sets
Where The Leaves Never Fade
Where The Leaves Never Fade
And The Righteous Forever Will Shine Like The Stars In That Beautiful City Of Gold
Verse 2
There Will Be No More Pain, Sickness-Sorrow Or Death
And The Saints, They Will Never Grow Old How I Long For That City, Where There Never Comes A Night
I miss you so much down here it doesn’t feel the same now that you are gone. Who will I go to for encouragement and wise counsel? What a wonderful woman, a virtuous woman, a woman of wisdom and strong principles. You Impart your wisdom with everyone you came in contact with. When I look back on the great memories with you the only thing, I can do is thank God for giving me an opportunity to encounter such a beautiful soul. God gained an Angel. We love and miss you so much down here.
Ashley
Words can’t describe what you mean to me. But I’ll try my best to place it on paper. You were my rock in so many ways as my mother in the natural and in the spiritual, you never gave up on me through the good and bad. You always stayed behind me pushing me with encouraging words “Let’s go Toya, God got you, you can do this” or telling me when I was wrong and getting me together as a mother should. Now I have to stand on my own and use the tools that you taught me. There will never be another you, I appreciate you so much. Thank you for teaching me spiritually and naturally. Take your rest, someday we will meet again and what a glad reunion that will be. I love you Mother Donna. Take care and rest peacefully.
Love Toya
With a heavy heart and a deep sense of loss, I pen this tribute for my sister Donna not only how I lost a friend, a good communicator, a prayer warrior, a shopping and mall partner, a piece of me is also lost.
Whenever I am feeling down or if one of my children were not doing well, for her praying and fasting time, she would say “you get ready to take them to the Doctor, she’ll deal with the sick person,” because you know me, my brain breaks down, I’m just a bundle of nerves.
When she got sick, guess who rose to the occasion, me. Yes, me. I would feed her, when I went to visit or take her for food. She hated P.M.H food, sorry no pun intended. When I fed her that Sunday, never in my wildest dream, did I think it would be my last time with her.
The cold cruel hands of Death snatched her away. Death has no Time line or respect. Now her voice is silent. No more texting inspirational quotes from her phone for it to is silent. But her legacy is not. Things I have learned, push, pray, fast, keep doing the right thing even if it hurts are all things, I’ve learned from her.
“I love you to the moon and back Betty.” These words will stay with me. I will also miss that baked ham and turkey with Rice and Crab Salad that she would make. They were truly bussing. She held that kitchen down.
With love from your sister, Betty Reckley
Don’t think of her as gone away, her journey’s just begun Life holds so many facets, this earth is only one.
Just think of her as resting from the sorrows and the tears
In a place of warmth and comfort where there are no days or years.
Think how she must be wishing that we could know today How nothing but our sadness, can really pass away.
And think of her as living in the hearts of those she touched For nothing loved is ever lost and she was loved so much.
With love from your sister, Kaye Forbes
If I only had five minutes, the day you passed away. I would have had time to tell you, all the things I needed to say. I never got to tell you, how much you mean to me. Or that you were the best, that anyone could be.
The last time I talked to you, I wish I would have known.
I would have said I love you, and kept you on the phone. I’d hold on to you with real tight hugs, I wouldn’t want you to go.
I would tell you that I’ll miss you, more than you ever know.
Now God has called upon you, it’s time to get your wings. To leave this life behind you and enjoy all heavens beautiful things. So, wait for me in heaven, don’t let me come alone, The day the angels come for me, please be there to bring me home.
With love from your sister, Joyce Miller
DONOVAN MILLER LANCE SEYMOUR
DOYLE MILLER ALDO SEYMOUR
JOURDAN MILLER
NOVARDO MOSS STEFAN FORBES
SHAMAAL FORBES SHARRAD FORBES
NIKOS EVANS SANTINO EVANS
The family wishes to express our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to The Ministry of Works Staff and Management, all relatives, friends, church members, neighbors for your kind attendance, words of comfort and messages, invaluable assistance, generous contribution, floral tributes, prayers and support which have given us strength and solace during the recent bereavement.
The fervent request is that you continue to pray with us and for us as we adjust to our loss. We know that with God’s help and continued support, we will see brighter and more blessed days. May God bestow his richest blessings on each of you!
