Obituary of Nola Mayers

July 3, 2023

Heaven was missing an angel the day Nola Joyce Mayers blessed this earth on January 20th, 1940. She was one of eight children born to Ms. Iris Mayers and Mr. Vernon Bispham on the island of Trinidad. She enjoyed a fun and spirited childhood with her siblings and relative where happy stories of her climbing mango trees come to mind!

Nola left the sunny island of Trinidad for the Big Apple in the 1960s while in her early twenties when she met Mr. Claude James, a fellow Trinidadian himself. In New York, they built a life and family together for the next 48 years until Claude transitioned in 2018. They first lived in the borough of Brooklyn where their first child was born, a son they proudly named Claude Kenneth Bryan James - a mouthful, I Know! Five years later, a daughter arrived, Janine Karen James. It was at this time the family decided to settle down in a small unknown beach community called Far Rockaway in the borough of Queens.

Her first job in New York was as a domestic for the Goodman family, of the famed Bergdorf Goodman department store. Soon after, she became employed at the #1 telephone company at the time, Ma Bell which would eventually become AT&T.

A natural educator at heart, Nola was determined to earn a college degree in education. In 1996 she received a Bachelor of Science degree from York College. And true to form, while still climbing the corporate ladder at AT&T she earned yet another degree. This time a Master of Science degree from Mercy College in 1998. Hence, a new career was born. Nola enjoyed a fulfilling career as a beloved public school teacher for the next 15 years until her retirement in the mid 2000s.

Nola loved a good time. To say she was the life of the party would be an understatement! She was a kind and generous Soul who absolutely loved her family and her beloved Trinity Church. She was a great listener whom you could talk to for hours on end. She always had great advice.

She was known to dress, and speak her mind! Anyone who knew her would say she was funny, always had jokes, always ready to laugh, and always wanted you to be happy. With a good Courvoisier & Pepsi in hand, you already knew what to expect!

Nola was beyond smart, quick at math, quick-witted and always on time. I mean never late, as in the first one to arrive, always, anywhere! She was a woman of her word, you could rest assured knowing you could count on her, a BIG personality in a tiny body for sure. Nola was truly one in a million.

On July 3rd, 2023, Nola was called home to our Lord. She is survived by her two children Bryan and Janine, her beloved granddaughter, caregiver, hairstylist and 'Bestie' Milan, her sister Verna, loving grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces and nephews, too many to name. Gone before her: granddaughter Shimmer Noell Paris, niece Jennifer Smith, niece Diane Sandiford, niece Kalifa Williams, siblings: Horace, Clyde, Gloria, Monica, David and Pandora, parents, Iris and Vernon. May they all rest in eternal peace.





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