[Image: A black woman in a white hat, looking at the camera]
Part 35 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.
Marjorie Vital, from the 16th floor of
Grenfell Tower
Marjorie Vital came from Soufrière in Dominica, and moved
with her parents to London in the 1950s. She had eight siblings, and was a
mother figure to the younger ones, braiding their hair and fixing their school uniforms.
She was a talented seamstress and spent a lot of her life doing that
work. “My mother was always working, busy creating a home
environment, and she had a full-time job,” her surviving son, who didn’t want to be named by the media, told the Grenfell inquiry. “She was an ambitious woman, but she put her ambitions aside for her children.”
Marjorie’s sister Paula told the inquiry that she had loved living at Grenfell.
“She loved living in the tower and was very proud of her
home which was always clean and tidy. Mama and Papa used to tease her, calling it ‘Marjorie’s Tower’”
Her family also had released an earlier statement speaking of her
personality and loves.
“Marjorie was 68 years old and she had worked in the textile
industry for many years. She was a beautiful, joyful, independent, intelligent, kind-hearted, sensitive individual who dedicated her life to her children. She carried herself with dignity and extended her warmth to family and friends.Through her creativity and joy of life, she was an inspiration to many of us. She has been prematurely and dramatically taken from
this world and will be sadly missed by family and friends, both here in the UK and abroad.”
Marjorie was found with her son, Ernie, who lived with her. “There’s
some comfort in knowing they were together,” her son said.
Majorie’s and Ernie’s ashes were scattered at sea, in
Dominica.
–
Sources
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/ng-interactive/2018/may/14/lives-of-grenfell-tower-victims-fire
Grenfell Tower, three years on | Overly Devoted Archivist
June 14, 2020 @ 11:54 am
[…] SmithGloria TrevisanMohamednur TuccuAmaya Tuccu-AhmedinJessica Urbano RamirezErnie VitalMarjorie VitalAli Yawar […]
Overly Devoted Archivist
June 14, 2020 @ 11:56 am
[…] SmithGloria TrevisanMohamednur TuccuAmaya Tuccu-AhmedinJessica Urbano RamirezErnie VitalMarjorie VitalAli Yawar […]
Overly Devoted Archivist
June 14, 2020 @ 1:37 pm
[…] Vital, the son of Marjorie Vital, worked in the catering industry. He was 50 years old, and had lived in Grenfell for almost as long […]