Joseph Benjamin Forbes Jr.'s Obituary
Joseph Benjamin Forbes Jr was born in Savanna-la-mar, Westmoreland, Jamaica West Indies. He was the last of five brothers. He was the 'Apple of the Eye' of his mother and father Almena Williams and Joseph Benjamin Forbes Sr., respectively.
His brothers loved him dearly and they were very protective of him. To them, he was affectionately aka 'Dillo'. As the baby in the family, his mother and father were like the potter's clay in his hands, in that he could always manipulate them to get anything within reason that he wanted.
As a boy growing up he attended Moreland Hill All-age School, Westmoreland, 🇯🇲 Jamaica W. I. It was while in school that he developed the passion for music and cricket as a sport. He continued to hone his skills in these two areas while in school.
Upon his graduation from school he joined a local band and the Delveland Cricket Club. In the band he played the drums and the guitar but he soon ditched the drums and as it were 'Married the Guitar'. Up to the time of his death he and his guitar were like inseparable twins. They were joint at the hip, always together.
In Cricket, his position was Wicket Keeper. He was like an acrobat, diving left and right to take catches behind the stumps. As an opening bats man, he would often punished the bowlers as he dispatched the ball, left and right and straight back passed the bowlers to the boundaries. Joseph was a male Psychiatric nurse at Bellevue Hospital in Jamaica.
Joseph migrated to the USA from Jamaica 🇯🇲 in 1969 and eventually settled in Hartford, Connecticut where he worked for Hartford Hospital as a Physician Assistant in the OR for 32 years, until his retirement. At Hartford Hospital, he met and married Greta Maude Thomas, a widower, and they had one child, Jacqueline. Joseph was active in his local church and community. He was a cricket umpire for the Sportsman Athletic Club in Hartford, CT. He also was an avid volunteer giving blood regularly to the Red Cross and visiting the sick and aged in convalescent homes, playing his beloved guitar and singing for the residents. Joseph spent his later years living with and being cared for by his beloved son-in-law Charles and daughter Jacqueline Tran. He will be dearly missed by his grandchildren, Priya, Kiron, Sonia, Mikel and Jaina who he taught to play the guitar, dominoes and to have a love of cricket.
Joseph is proceeded in death by his parents and wife Greta. He leaves behind daughters- Kaydee, Joy, Valerie, and Paulette, and sons Lemuel and Bassanio from previous marriages, in addition to numerous grandchildren, nephews and nieces whom he cared for deeply.
A memorial service will be held at a later date by the family.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to www.widowcare.org.
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