St Ann healthcare trailblazer Dorrett Wood Brown celebrates 100th birthday

A trailblazer in maternal and prenatal healthcare in St Ann, Dorrett Wood Brown recently celebrated her 100th birthday surrounded by family and friends.

“I feel happy. I just thank God. I find it very difficult to find the words to describe the feeling,” Wood Brown told Observer Online. “My parents also contributed to my upbringing. The Lord’s blessing is on me.”

Born in Bethany on April 8, 1926, Brown was the second of eight children and is now the last surviving sibling.

Dorrett Wood Brown recently celebrated her 100th birthday on April 8, 2026, surrounded by family and friends.

In 1961, she founded the Resthaven maternity home in Brown’s Town, becoming a pioneer in maternal and prenatal healthcare in the parish.

“She used to have women come in, deliver babies. They would stay a couple of weeks. She would teach them how to nurse the baby, wash the baby and look after them,” said Ruth Heron, one of Brown’s four adopted daughters.

Wood Brown’s journey into healthcare began when she received sponsorship from a doctor, who also served as a pastor, to study nursing in England from 1951 to 1960.

Dorrett Wood Brown surrounded by women from the Baptist Women’s Federation during her 100th birthday celebration where she served  as president of the federation in the 1970s.

She returned to Jamaica in 1960 to assist her mother who had fallen ill. Despite receiving misguided advice that led her to relinquish her British passport and withdraw her pension savings, she used the funds to establish the maternity home in Brown’s Town.

The facility was later renamed Woodhaven after she got married in 1967.

“For a black woman to have her own business was something in the sixties. It was significant. The fact that she was her own person and owned a business. She never worked for anybody. She always worked full-time. She did odd bits here and there for different clinics. But she was a proper entrepreneur,” Heron added.

Dorrett Wood Brown and her daughter Ruth Heron.

Heron noted that, despite losing her sight and suffering from dementia over the last six months, Wood Brown still recites Bible verses from memory.

Her faith, Heron said, has played an instrumental role in her life.

“Her faith is what has driven her to do the deeds that she does, to look after people. I remember as a little girl, we didn’t have a big family. It was just my sister at the time with mom because dad had gone,” Heron said.

“But we always used to have like 14, 15, 16 people at Christmas dinner because she’d invite people who didn’t have anybody else to Christmas dinner. If anybody came and asked her for stuff, she’d put a little money in their hand, regardless of whether she had it or not,” she added.

Wood Brown’s love for the elderly was passed on to her adopted daughter, Karen Weir, who followed in her mother’s footsteps by opening her own nursing home in St Ann – the Happy Smile Care Home.

Dorrett Wood Brown surrounded by her daughters (L) Ruth Heron and Kerine Weir during her 100th birthday celbration on April 8, 2026 (Photo: National Council for Senior Citizens ).

“We grew up looking after the elderly persons because of her. I think that she influenced me to have my own home and just having that care and love for the elderly,” Weir said.

Karen Weir, who along with her twin sister Kerien was adopted by Wood Brown, said her mother instilled positive values in her and her siblings.

“She was a good mummy. Things were not always perfect but she was a good mummy. She taught us how to cook, clean and to be independent. I think that has paid off now in terms of me being an adult, knowing how to do things and knowing things are done properly,” Weir noted.

Weir, who is also an educator, said her mother was very strict and placed great emphasis on her children attending Sunday school.

Dorrett Wood Brown recently celebrated her 100th birthday surrounded by family and friends. Also present to join in the celebration was Monique Richards from the National Council for Senior Citizens. (Photo: National Council for Senior Citizens )

“We always had to go to Sunday school whether we wanted to or not. She also believed in sitting at the table and sitting up straight and elbows off the table and chewing with your mouth closed. If you go to school and school over at 2 o’clock, you try no make 2:30 come and you don’t reach home. You can’t stand at the wall talking to anybody at the gate and you don’t go anywhere unless you have an occasion to go. So she was rather a strict person,” she added.

Weir described her mom reaching her 100th birthday milestone as a joyous occasion.

“It’s a happy and joyous moment. It’s a milestone and she doesn’t even look like she’s a hundred. I know she has dementia, but her long-term memory is there. It’s an awesome feeling,” she added.

As Brown marked her 100th birthday, she was joined by women from the Baptist Women’s Federation, where she served as president during the 1970s, as well as Monique Richards from the National Council for Senior Citizens.