Daphne Pearl Harvey

A Loving Legacy

Daphne Pearl Harvey (formerly Gilfillian) was born in Kingston, Jamaica on April 16, 1929. She was the sixth of eight children born to the late John and Martha Gilfillian. Although she was raised in Kingston, she spent a great deal of time in her father's hometown, Goshen, Clarendon visiting her relatives.

A scholar who loved to learn, Daphne attended Whitfield Town Primary and secondary school before later going on to Fitz-Henley Business School where she excelled academically. In 1955, she married Vernon Smith and their union produced one child, Karen Christine. Her career was diverse, crossing several disciplines and industries. Daphne would spend several years working in bookkeeping for Ariguanabo in Spanish Town and The Administrator General's office in Kingston. Daphne also worked as an Insurance Agent which allowed her the chance to travel across the island, exploring her home country. Eventually she joined forces with friends to start a market research company.

Daphne grew up in the church and was a member of Jones Town Baptist & Boulevard Baptist where she was actively involved in several ministries, including the mass choir, women's federation and hospitality. After migrating to Miami in 1979, she attended Metropolitan Baptist and Sierra Norwood. Daphne returned to school and worked mostly as a private duty nurse until she retired. She married C.P. Harvey who predeceased her in 2001, after which she relocated to Orlando to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren. There, she attended First Baptist of Orlando for several years.

Growing up, Daphne was fascinated with politics, routinely accompanying her father to political rallies and meetings across the island. As an adult in Jamaica, she continued her involvement in politics both on the local and national level. After becoming a U.S. citizen, she continued to exercise her civic duty and learned as much as she could about the U.S. political system. She always believed that a candidate's position should lineup with the word of God and held strong in her beliefs. She never shied away from engaging in political discussions to debate her position and share her opinion. Daphne was an independent, vivacious and strong-willed woman, and was instrumental in helping start the Women's Movement in Jamaica.

Her interests were varied, but she enjoyed cooking, baking and entertaining. Her Christmas fruit cakes and home-made wines and liqueurs were legendary. Daphne was an avid reader, but also loved to travel and made several trips to the Holy Land and Europe.

By far, Daphne's purpose and passion could be found in her love for helping and serving others. Whether it was through her mission trips to Haiti or donating toys, etc. to children in need, she always sought out ways in which to serve. She loved children and was a mother to many of her nieces, cousins and strangers. She became a foster parent to Norman Smith and raised him as her own. In later years, she started a charity organization to help underprivileged children in the Whitfield Town area of Kingston. She spent countless hours every year shopping for toys and gifts, soliciting donations and packing boxes to ship to Jamaica and she would hold an annual Christmas party for the children. Her goal was always to show her love for the Lord and tell them of the Good News.

Whenever Daphne took on a project, she was always fully committed. She never ran away from a challenge and always thought, with God's help, nothing was impossible to do. Such was the case when she worked on the HANDS Across Jamaica for Righteousness project. She worked tirelessly to ensure that HANDS' purpose of making Jamaicans aware of their Godly inheritance of beauty, fellowship and prosperity was disseminated across the island and in the process, souls were won for Christ.

Daphne lived a full and blessed life and passed peacefully surrounded by her family on December 9, 2018 at Florida Hospital after a brief illness. She will forever be known as a loving mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend, but most importantly, as a child of God.

Left to cherish her memory are her daughter Karen Anderson (Al), stepson Vernon (Lorna), grandchildren Ashleigh, Courtney, Justin, Marlon, Garth, Nardia & Norlando, great-grandson Cameron, and countless other loving family and friends.
She was predeceased by her foster son, Norman and all her siblings.