Iris Duffus is Jamaica’s oldest person

If one could frame a picture of what unfolded at Brevitt, Frazer's Content, St Catherine, in the home of 109-year-old Iris Duffus last Sunday, it would capture a legacy of longevity.

This as five generations of family, along with friends and well-wishers came together to honour their beloved matriarch. Among the guests was Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, who confirmed that the senior citizen, who was born Louise Small, and later adopted the name Iris Duffus, is officially Jamaica's oldest living person.

"She went through World War II, went through colonisation, independence, everything, [she is] 109 years old!"Tufton said, excitedly. Duffus' youngest daughter, 74-year-old Helena Anderson, stood proudly nearby, watching as the people in attendance celebrated her mother's legacy.

"We're just a quiet little family," Anderson said. "All we do is just take good care of her and grow old with her. We just keep low-key." Though the event was not held on her birthday - Duffus was born on May 24, 1915 - it was a special Mother's Day tribute sparked by word reaching Tufton.

"I told somebody about her, and because she's the oldest living Jamaican they called to celebrate her,"

All four of Duffus' children are still alive, ranging in age from 86 to 74; they have also followed in her footsteps by working in the health sector.

"I'm a retired nurse," said Anderson. "And that's what she promoted in her lifetime, healthy eating and rest." Duffus' fierce sense of discipline is part of the family's oral history.

"Lord man man! She was a strict disciplinarian. You couldn't fall out of line and not get correction," Anderson said with a chuckle. "One day, my sister hit me and we started to fight. She came out and said, 'I'm not raising a puss and dog!' We had to fall in line. And one thing was a must under her roof, we had to go to church."

Though she no longer reads without glasses, Duffus still hears and speaks though sparingly.

"Even after she turned 100 she was still reading without glasses. She can talk, but she shuts down when she's ready. She talks but she'll get bored easily. So she'll stop talking when she feels like," Anderson said.

Tufton used the occasion to underscore the importance of community in health care, noting that Duffus herself once served the area in a vital role.

"She was a midwife back in the day. She delivered babies in the community. It's just that she didn't have the proper training," Tufton revealed.

Reflecting on her longevity, he added "Long life is a blessing. And I've been actually talking to centenarians throughout the constituency and outside to try and understand the issue around long life. A lot of it is non-medical, non-clinical, non-prescription pad or non-hospital. It really starts with a state of mind... how they deal with issues and how they live with people."

As Jamaica's population ages, Tufton said the Government has been ramping up support for elderly citizens.

"We've implemented health aides in the communities. These are community health workers who go in sometimes outside of their responsibilities. They become friends to the elderly. Sometimes they wash their plates, clean their homes," he said. "That's the kind of support system we want to promote."

As everyone doted on her, Duffus sat quietly but with a fierceness that shows a living monument to resilience, discipline, and generational care.