Pearleta Patterson-Watson, 94, formerly of Portland, Jamaica, entered eternal rest on September 20, 2026, in Oradell, New Jersey, just days after her 94th birthday.
She was born Pearleta Patterson on September 9, 1932, in St. Margaret's Bay, Portland, Jamaica, to Frederick Patterson and Lileth Lawrence (Jones). From the shores of St. Margaret's Bay, her life grew into a generational legacy spanning Jamaica and the United States.
Pearleta attended Central Branch All-Age School in Kingston. As a young woman, she ran a grocery store in St. Margaret's Bay before moving to Buff Bay, where she devoted herself to building a home for her family.
Known affectionately as Ma Pearl, she is remembered by her children: Colin, Audrey, Donovan, Dahlia, and Fay, as a woman of firm discipline, fierce protectiveness, and sacrificial love. Her rules were simple: school and church, and back home. Anyone who stayed out past 8 p.m., or sometimes even earlier, faced consequences. She held to the wisdom of Proverbs 23:13–14, believing that correction administered with love shapes a child for life.
Though the family had very little, Ma Pearl made sure her children had food and a good education. Rather than send them to the secondary school most children attended after primary school, she enrolled them in private school and paid the fees however she could. Her care often came through the kitchen. Every Sunday, she baked pudding and toto so her children would have something for supper and a snack to take to school. Her homemade ginger beer was a staple at the table. Years later, when she lived in Buff Bay, Portland, where Colin lived with his grandmother, he looked forward to her delicious meals whenever he visited.
The same determination that kept her children in school led her to the United States in 1985, where she sought a better future for herself and her family. After marrying Albert Watson in 1986, she studied to become a home health aide, and caring for others became her life's work. Through her agency, Unlimited Care Inc., she was placed with a family who quickly grew to love her. When Dr. Levy moved to the Daughters of Miriam Nursing Home in Clifton, New Jersey, his family hired her as his private-duty aide. She retired in 2001.
In retirement, Ma Pearl found joy in simple pleasures. She loved sitting at her dining table, taking in the view from her windows. She loved to laugh, and her infectious laughter could light up a room. She loved music, especially the songs of Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. Ma Pearl faithfully watched TBN programs like Precious Memories, delighted in Disney Channel shows like That's So Raven, and kept 106.7 FM on to listen to her favorite hosts, Delilah and Rich Kaminski. She treasured her daily phone calls with her sister Pauline, her conversations with her dear friend Hazel, and regular visits from her sister Dezrene, her granddaughter Yolande, and Eve Marshall, who was like a daughter to her. Her kindness extended well beyond her family. Every Christmas, she gave cards and gifts to the staff at the apartment building where she lived. Ma Pearl did things her way. Her life held love, laughter, and tears, yet she had few regrets.
In her later years, her hearing and vision declined, but her appetite and fierce spirit rarely waned. Even as she celebrated her 94th birthday, she kept asking for beef soup, boiled dumplings, yam, jerk pork, and other Jamaican favorites.
Her strength, sacrifice, cooking, and unforgettable laugh will live on in all who knew her. Ma Pearl was deeply loved and will be dearly missed.
Ma Pearl leaves behind her children, Colin Cohen, Audrey Cohen, Donovan Morris, Dahlia Morris, and Fay Morris; her siblings, Pauline Johnson, Veron Patterson-Reid, Dezrene Patterson, Janet Patterson, Norman Jones, Vernon Jones, Winston Patterson, and Everald Patterson; 15 grandchildren, Coleen Cohen, Marsha Cohen-Wood, Charlene Modeste, Richard Cohen, Michelle Sinclair-Fennell, Coleen Brown, Martin Brown, Andre Edwards, Yolande Morris, Treviene Morris, Lori-Kim Morris, Andre Morris, Anieka Ramgolam-Singh, Calais Smith, and Kairy Lounse; 24 great-grandchildren; two great-great grandchildren, her dear friend Hazel; and a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives, and special friends. She was predeceased by her husband, Albert, and her siblings, Gwendolyn Patterson, Edith Patterson-Hall, Herma Patterson, Osmond Patterson, Erna Maud Jones, and Trevor Jones.