Geraldine Neita

Geraldine Neita, 97, born on May 1, 1918 in Chicago, Illinois, passed away February 8, 2016. Geraldine's mother, Beatrice Wilson was born in Jamaica, British West Indies and her Leander, was born in Georgia.

Orphaned at three years old, with two older sisters, Iona and Beatrice and a younger brother, Leander, she lived with her grandfather, who was a Presidential candidate in Costa Rica. Then she lived with relatives.

She was extremely devoted to her sisters and brother. Beatrice, her sister, died at an early age. Iona and Geraldine lived in New York City and worked and traveled together. They worked as seamstresses and Gerry worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during WW II - as many women did during that time.
Gerry met her husband, Kenneth Asquith Neita of Jamaica, British West Indies at a dance in NYC. They were married on May 27, 1945. They had two children, Gloria E. and David A. Neita.

Gerry and Ken worked at saving money and took all kinds of jobs, and Ken convinced Gerry to send Gloria and David to stay with his brother and family in Jamaica, B.W.I. so they could work round the clock. The two children were there until there was a horrific hurricane that devastated the Island. Gerry flew to Jamaica immediately to bring her children home. That determination to protect her children was the driving force of her life.

Geraldine was extremely hard working and convinced Kenneth to take a job with her with a rich family in Westchester, NY - where she worked as a cook and he was the chauffeur. IT was there that she taught herself about fine china, crystal and the ways and manners of the well to do. Gerry and Ken saved all of their money and bought a three story brownstone in Brooklyn, N.Y. Unheard of for a young black couple in the Fifties. Gerry made sure her children had piano lessons, Gloria had ballet lessons, and the children went to Catholic school. Ken became a real estate broker and opened a firm with a partner in Brooklyn. He was a real estate broker - commercial real estate - for over 40 years in Brooklyn.

The family moved to Jamaica, Queens, NY into a single family home and Gerry worked in a factory as a seamstress, started selling Avon in 1959 and made all of Gloria's clothes, cooked the family meals, swam at the YMCA and took all the neighborhood children to the beach in the Summer -sometimes 12 kids jammed in her Humber Super Snipe car that she bought. She continued to make sure her children had everything. Holidays were filled with gifts and beautiful clothes from good stores - "shop in the best stores on sale" was her motto as well as - "No one can ever take away what is in your brains - get an education." She taught her daughter to cook, clean, sew, drove her to ballet class, piano lessons and riding lessons and skating lessons and was an outstanding mother to her children and devoted wife to her husband. Her home became the home away from home for all the neighborhood boys - "Mrs. Neita's stoop" was where the Jewish, Italian, Polish, Irish, Puerto Rican, German teen boys hung out and got fed in her kitchen, too. She was always interested in helping kids and feeding them and providing them a safe place to congregate.

When her daughter went to college, Gerry would cook meals and drive upstate to New Paltz with enough food on the weekend to feed 12 people. When her son was in Viet Nam she would sit with Ken and watch the news every night as Ken tracked where their son, David was stationed. The first war ever televised and it helped the families.

Gerry ran marathons in NYC in the 70's when she was in her fifties. When Gerry was in her fifties she learned to ski and became a certified scuba diver. She officiated with her husband at her daughter's wedding and was right there in the hospital with her husband by her daughter's side when she gave birth to Adam. She would take her grandson, Adam, snorkeling in Puerto Rico or skiing in the Catskills or just drive him to Cape Cod. Lucky Adam, because his grandfather took him to Jamaica when he was just a toddler. Gerry took a trip on the SS France and scuba dived in the islands of Curacao, St. Martens, etc. She loved to travel and loved Spain and Mexico City. When her daughter worked as an actress in Canada, Gerry went to Canada. When her daughter worked as an actress in London, England, Gerry went to London, England. When her daughter moved to Los Angeles, Gerry made frequent trips to take care of her grandson if her daughter was working out of town. Both Ken and Gerry made sure they were at Adam's high school graduation in Beverly Hills. Gerry came to Gloria's singing shows, tv shows, flying back and forth. Her cooking of Jamaican food became so popular that when her daughter opened in the play The Gingham Dog at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, Gerry was commissioned by the producer to fly out and cook for opening night - and everyone ended up in the kitchen with her and her great food. She loved to work and when she was over retirement age, she bought a wig and took a job in a Dunkin Donuts in Manhattan - short lived when her daughter didn't want her going home after midnight by Subway. She took a job as a caregiver at a hospital on Long Island - she loved that.

After they moved to a doorman building in Queens, one of the doormen developed a love for my mother. My mother was only devoted to her husband, but the doorman became friends with both of them and eventually died and left my mother money and stocks.

Eventually, Ken and Gerry moved to Los Angeles in 1990 and Ken passed away in 1991. Gerry loved people and loved parties and loved meeting new people and she kept selling Avon even to the people in the bars on Santa Monica Blvd. She had many adventures that we have all heard about taking off for New York, Chicago, Nebraska, Arizona and getting escorted home by one or two of the young men who studied acting with Gloria and generously gave their time to allow her the good times.

She was a devoted parish member of Good Shepherd Church in Beverly Hills In the last fourteen years of her life, she had to stop driving, which she hated giving up, and had her dog Buster as her constant companion and lived in an apartment in her daughter's building in Beverly Hills and then moved into the guest house where Gloria lives - with 24 hour caregivers just to make sure she had company, at first, and to keep a watchful eye. Glenda was first, with Tahlia and then Liz and Karla and they took great care of her to the very end. The students at Gloria's school were her constant entertainment and they have lots of stories.
Her doctor, Dr. Flyer, was amazed at her strength and durability as he took great care of her for fourteen years. She was a devoted mother to her son and daughter, and a loving grandmother to Adam and a loving wife to Ken. Her strength was amazing. Her spirituality and quest for learning was inspirational and her generosity was powerful. She will be very missed.


Arrangements are under the direction of Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California.