April 13th 1946 - June 26th 2017

We regret to inform you of the sad news that Ophelia Nazareth passed away on June 26th at the Royal Trinity Hospice, London, England after a long battle with cancer.

Ophelia was born in Nairobi, Kenya and is the daughter of the late Joaquim M Nazareth & the late Ivy M Nazareth.  Dearly beloved sister to Paul & Juliet, Olga & Mario, Joe & Louisa and Olivia & Lawrence.  Aunt to Savio & Cheryl, Emanuel & Laura, Orlando & Clare, Rosanna, Gavin, Merle, Kerri and Natalie & Stuart. Grand Aunt to Carmel, Naomi, Brandon, Lucy, Danny, Morgan, Kurtis and Charlotte. 

“The steadfast Love of the Lord never ceases,

His mercies never come to an end;

The Lord be with us”  

_______________________________________________________

Here are some extracts from Ophelia`s "  MY  JOURNEY  OF  LOVE ":

 " LIFE  IS  DIFFICULT  AND  PAINFUL ;  

HOWEVER  BECAUSE  I  LOVE  MYSELF  -

I  MAKE  EVERY  EFFORT  TO  CONFRONT  BY  PROBLEMS  AND  WORK  THROUGH  THEM "

 " WHAT  WE  ARE  IS  GOD's  GIFT  TO  US ; 

WHAT  WE  BECOME  IS  OUR  GIFT  TO  GOD "

My name is Ophelia Philomena Nazareth.  I was born on April 13th 1946 in Nairobi, Kenya.  I inherited my name from my from my paternal grandmother Ofelia (Portuguese).  Our family of 7 lived in a 3-bedroomed house within a complex of 26 Goan owner-occupied houses at the Goan Housing Estate, Pangani.

We are proud of our identity. Besides celebrating our family birthdays we always celebrated the Feast of St Francis Xavier on Dec 3rd and Christmas.

It was always fun making sweets with the family.

My schooling :  I attended the Dr. Ribeiro Goan School, Nairobi where I received my Division One, Cambridge Overseas Certificate.  I was also a St John`s Ambulance first aider.

In my pursuit to become a Doctor I then joined Sophia College, Bombay, to do my Inter Science, having secured a high % in Inter Science I got admission to Goa Medical College.  Unfortunately after passing my 2nd year M.B.B.S. (some call it Members of the Big Bottom Society), in my 3rd year, I fell ill and I was diagnosed with bipolar  disorder - a life sentence on me.  I tried very hard to carry on with my studies but my medication made me drowsy.  My brother Paul finally brought me back to Nairobi.

After recovering in Nairobi, I worked for the Treasury (with Pascal).  

In June 1976 I immigrated to England to join my siblings Olga, Joe and Olivia.  I enjoyed  my work and I worked hard at the Southwark Council, London.  

I worked for 26 years at Southwark gradually rising to become Projects Monitoring Officer.   While working at Southwark I attended evening classes and obtained my  "Diploma In Reflexology and Indian Head Massage."  I took great pride in practicing my skills on all my family members.

Then in 2005  I was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer, another life sentence, which later spread.   In my quest to be healthy, my Doctor put me on a "Clinical Trial" but because of the severe reaction I came off the clinical trial.

On my 65th Birthday/Retirement my family organized 3 Parties for me - 1 by my siblings Olga, Joe, Louisa & Olivia; 1 by their children and 1 by the grandchildren.  I quote the words on one of by birthday cards:  " a day for remembering how much you mean to each one of us .. 

..and a day for feeling proud because this world is so much more wonderful because of you."

Broken Dreams

As children bring their broken toys and tears for us to mend.

I brought my broken dreams to God because He is my friend.

But then instead of leaving Him in peace, to work alone,

I hung around and tried to help, with ways that were my own.

I snapped back and cried " How can You be so slow ?"

"My child" HE said "What could I do ? You never did let it go"

I cannot quantify the Love, Time,  Energy and Help I have received from all my family members.  May God Bless them in many ways.

With all my love,

Ophelia Nazareth.

_______________________________________________________

At this stage all I can say is that Ophelia has been BLESSED to have a loving family and such loving sisters like Olga, Olivia & Louisa (like a sister to me) and their husbands Mario, Lawrence & Joe.

LOVE is like a cycle - what you give comes back.  You will be Blessed.

" Love is a fruit in season all the time, and within the reach of every hand " Mother Teresa

Ophelia suffered from tyroid cancer for over 12 years, and she endured a lot of hardship and pain.

From Dec 2016 at least one family member had to visit Ophelia at her home to make sure all was well at her house and for the last 6 weeks when she was at the Royal Trinity Hospice all the family members used to visit her, probably this love from the family gave her the strength to live on even when the Doctors had given up on her and she was on regular painkillers.

To my Sweet Little Sister, Olivia - Thank you for taking Ophelia for her doctors appointments, sleeping at her house some days and most of all spending the last 6 nights at the Hospice and taking care of her at night while the family members visited her during the day.

Ophelia's last words to Olivia were " Hurry up !, hurry up! put on my shoes, I am going to see Mummy "    

May Ophelia's soul Rest In Peace.

Love & God Bless you all,

Paul Nazareth.

Ophelia Philomena Nazareth

Born -13th April 1946 Nairobi Kenya        Died – 26th June 2017 London England

Funeral service 14th July 2017 Brixton London 

  Interment 2nd September 2017 Mississauga Ontario

I can understand why God would want such a beautiful angel by his side from now to eternity but the pain inside me remains.

Looking back over our childhood I can remember all the fun, laughter, our family closeness, added to celebrations and gatherings shared, that have created precious memories to treasure forever.  What a wonderful family to have been born into and how lucky were we to grow ever closer as the years went by and we grew up.

Ophelia’s staunch Christian faith together with her incredible courage and positive attitude to life allowed her to face the numerous major challenges she encountered throughout her life.

She had the biggest of hearts and her warmth, generosity and bubbly personality touched the lives of everyone who came into contact with her.  Her intelligent mind, humble and kind soul, fiercely independent and loving nature is an inspiration to us all.

During her long illness Ophelia wrote a letter dated 15th April 2006, two days after her 60th birthday which I would like to share with you all now.

“I took courage, ownership and responsibility to handle my cancer.  The significant people in my life – my family – were my rock my love and my support.  My journey through thyroid cancer gave me the opportunity to understand people and to make changes in my own life such as adopt a positive attitude; remember that.  My cup is always half full and not half empty; Value people and things; Forgive and ask for forgiveness in order to free myself from the pain of the past and to MOVE ON.  It is more blessed to give than to receive.  Hard work is good and gratification is always delayed.

Live life by Faith, Hope and Love and the greatest is LOVE.”

We would have to travel far and wide to find a stronger person than Ophelia.

You played such a big role in my life and your parting has left a void that can never be filled.  I feel so lucky and privileged to have had a Sister as wonderful, caring and loving as you.

God may have you in his arms but I still have you in my heart and to live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.  I know that one day we will, as a family, be reunited and this thought will see me through these saddest of times.

Keep shining my beautiful one.  The world needs your light to guide us.

Your loving sister

 Olivia

_______________________________________________________

Ophelia's  Dr Ribeiro Goan School Class of 1962  have very kindly offered a mass for Ophelia 

at the Westminster Cathedral 

on the 25th September 2017 at 13:05

Sincere thanks from Ophelia’s loving family for your Prayers, Mass Cards, Flowers, Kindness and Support received from so many.

Your Kind Words of Condolences and shared memories of Ophelia has been a great comfort and very much appreciated.

Thank You.

_______________________________________________________