Before his marriage to Mamin, Charles described her in one of his letters as having a “noble calling” and that he hoped to “have and hold the affection of her pure guileless soul” and to “bask in the sunshine of her love”.

Mamin Janice Ramlochan, or Baboonee Ramlochan (birth name), was the third child in a family of 9 children. She was born in Robert Village, Tableland, Trinidad and Tobago on December 25, 1923. Although her mother never went to school, she supervised the children’s homework as education was important to her. Everyday, Mamin walked several miles each way to school and still helped her mother with household chores.

After her father died in 1941, the entire family moved to live with their maternal grandfather and he encouraged her pursuit of education and involvement with church activities. In 1942, she began to attend the Archibald Institute, St. Augustine and completed a 3-year home economics training program, after which she returned to Rio Claro, then helped one of the Canadian missionaries to organise a women’s bible conference at the Iere Home, Princes Town.

She remained at the Iere Home for several months, after which Mamin returned to the Archibald Institute for 3 years of training in Religious Education. She said that the classroom work was strenuous and that she especially enjoyed the practical work with Explorers, Sunday School and home visitation.

Upon graduation as a Deaconess from the Archibald Institute, she was stationed at the San Juan Presbyterian Church. There she met Charles Ramkhalawansingh, who was a leading and well respected figure in the San Juan Presbyterian Church and the community. They were married on February 14th, 1949.

During the early days of their marriage, Charles and Mamin’s siblings lived with them at various times: Rose, Emily, Ella, Tara, Harry and Ramlal. Their first child, Titus, was born in 1950, followed by Ceta in 1951 and Luna in 1954. She continued her church work on a voluntary basis with Sunday School, Explorers, TGIT (Trinidad Girls In Training), the Women’s Group and also served on boards and committees of the Girls Work Board and the Archibald Institute.

Having worked at Aranguez Estates Limited for over 40 years, Charles decided to retire. Not long after, a decision was made to migrate to Canada, as Charles and Mamin wanted their children to benefit from post secondary education abroad. The family moved to Toronto in August 1967 and all three children settled into high school and later attended university. Mamin and Charles continued their church work by joining the Woodgreen United Church.

Mamin took up part-time employment as a telephone operator with the Simpson’s company where she met many new people who became friends.

After Charles passed away suddenly in 1971, Mamin moved to a new home but continued her association with Woodgreen and maintained many of her friendships. She loved to travel and participated in many trips organized by Rev. Geraldine Reid who became a close friend of the family when she served with the church mission in Trinidad. Mamin travelled to South America, Asia, Africa, the US, Europe and throughout Canada.

In addition to her gardening and cooking skills, Mamin developed a new hobby of quilting which she enjoyed with her good friend Flora Omerod. She became very accomplished and many of her beloved nieces, nephews, grandchildren and adoptive grandchildren were recipients of her beautiful craft.

In later years, Mamin went on many vacations with Luna and her grandsons, and at 83 went ziplining and rapelling on a trip to the Mayan Riviera.

When her sister Tara moved to Toronto from Montreal, she shared a home with Mamin. After Luna relocated from Yellowknife in 2019, she lived with Mamin and they shared many activities, including aquafit classes at the Jimmie Simpson Centre to which Titus was often their chauffeur.

As grandsons Robert and Nicholas grew up, they visited her often and she passed on cooking and other skills to them. She was pleased when they joined her to attend church services. She loved and adored them and treasured their visits. A proud grandmother, she was gratified by their academic achievements and was thrilled to see Robert complete his doctorate from the University of Toronto and Nicholas a master’s degree in engineering from Carleton University.

For many decades, Mamin was the matriarch of a large extended family. Many nieces and nephews, and their children, sought her advice. She listened patiently and guided many on paths away from their anger and frustrations. She lent a helping hand when she could, especially to those in dire circumstances. She always encouraged people to look positively on life, and to be positive about the challenges they faced. Nieces, nephews and friends called or visited, often bringing her gifts of home cooked meals and flowers.

Mamin befriended her neighbours in Toronto and Flesherton, congregants from the Glen Rhodes United Church, aquafit group and the friends of her children.

In the fall of 2022, Mamin fell ill with a lung infection which curtailed many activities. While her home in Toronto was being renovated, Tara, Ceta or Luna took turns living and caring for her at the family cottage in Flesherton. Her brother, Harry came from California and they shared many stories about growing up in Trinidad. We were grateful for the chauffeur services of friends and family who helped to shuttle family back and forth to Toronto.

Mamin reached her 100th birthday on Christmas day 2023. She was able to celebrate on a Zoom call with many family members and friends who were in several different countries. Like so many of her generation, she was amazed by the possibilities of modern technology and would sometimes issue instructions to send a text, make a call or would dictate an email.

During her illness, she had outstanding care from medical and support teams in Flesherton and Toronto. The teams from Sinai Health Temmy Latner unit, and caregiving services from VHA and Spectrum ensured that she was comfortable in her home.

We gratefully acknowledge the care provided by Dr. Abe Hirsz, her long time family physician, Dr. Victoria Sugarman, Dr. Glen Harris, Peter Tsang, Dr. Kavita Algu, Simcha Ben Abraham (nurse), and a number of PSW staff including Lani, Kidest, Remya, and Patricia.

On Thursday February 22, 2024 around 6:30 pm, Reverend Bri-anne Swan had just said a prayer and sang the hymn ‘How Great Thou Art’ in her beautiful voice. Several minutes later Mamin passed away peacefully in her sleep.

Mamin was grandma, mom, mammie, sister, sis, Tantie, Auntie Charles, aunty, shugs, chaachee. To quote Charles, all of us have “basked in the sunshine of her love”.

Donations may be made in her honour to the Temmy Latner Palliative Care Centre, the Glen Rhodes United Church Food Bank (now known as Nourish East End) through the East End Regional Ministry or a charity of your choice. You may use the Donate link.

https://secure.supportsinai.ca/site/SPageServer?pagename=DonationLanding.html
or
https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/72206

A celebration of her life will be held on Sunday, May 26, 2024 from 2 to 4 pm at Mt. Pleasant Funeral Centre, 375 Mt. Pleasant Road, Toronto, ON M4T 2V8

TRIBUTES: 2.45 pm to 3.15 pm

Mamin’s favourite colour is purple so you may choose to wear a colour she loved.