Jameelah Martin sits in a place of honor as friends and family gathered to celebrate her birthday.
Friends and family gathered last week to celebrate the remarkable life of Jameelah Martin, who recently turned 96.
“I’m doing great,” Martin said. “I feel good.”
Martin has lived in New Jersey since she was 15 and in Orange since about 1983. She worked for many years at the Veterans Administration Hospital in East Orange, rising up from the food services department into administration where she became a supervisor. She also worked for a time with the Red Cross.
Church is very important to her and she has been active in many facets, attending seminary school, serving as an elder in her church, dancing with the Praise Dancers and serving on the United Clergy of the Oranges.
She has been involved with both the Union American Methodist Episcopal Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She is a mother of the church and within the United Clergy.
More than 100 people attended the party, including nurses and emergency medical technicians who help her with dialysis treatments. She also received a proclamation from Mayor Dwayne Warren.
Martin entered the party escorted by a grandson and was the subject of a musical tribute, which included a song written specifically for and about her.
Martin had five children and is now the matriarch of six generations having recently become a great, great, great grandmother.
“I liked all of it,” Martin said of the party. “It was very enjoyable. I was overwhelmed. God has kept me here all these years and everyone was caring and sharing. They loved me.”
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