Kathleen Mescus

Kathleen Dorothy Phillip James Mescus passed on September 11, 2015, at the age of 89 in Bowie, Maryland.
Born in St. Kitts, British West Indies, on December 29, 1925, to the late William Henry Phillip and the late Gladys Georgina Phillip, Kathleen moved to Bowie in June 2014 after being a long-time resident of the U.S. Virgin Islands, living both on St. Thomas and St. Croix. She initially resided, however, in St. Maarten, Netherland Antilles, after leaving St. Kitts in 1944.
She was known to many in the islands as "Dorothy", and specifically by her siblings as "Titta Doll". She dreamed of acting on Broadway and wanted to go off to England to help the World War II efforts as a nurse; she never got the opportunity to do either.
However, her independence and love for travel and learning new things throughout her entire lifetime made it easy for her to venture out and reside for relative short periods of time in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, as well as Jacksonville, Miami and Pembroke Pines, Florida, and Oxnard, California. She traveled to England, Holland, Canada and other Caribbean islands, particularly where family members reside.
While living in St. Maarten, she worked faithfully as one of the five founding members of the island's first Anglican Church, St. Simon and St. Jude. She later eventually moved to the U.S. Virgin Islands around 1958.
During the more than 30 years of on-and-off residency in the U.S. Virgin Islands, she worked as a teacher's aide, cashier, and retail store manager. She was also very active as a Girl Scout leader, a Parent Teachers Association member and president, and as a staunch member of the St. Andrews Anglican Church where she formed youth groups and sang in the choir. She continued her membership with the Women's AGLOW ministry in the islands after being introduced to it in Jacksonville.
She was a proud woman of strong faith who enjoyed ministering, working with the elderly, and being active in her local senior centers, including the Bowie Senior Center.
She is predeceased by her husband, John Alexander Mescus, and former husband, Vance Theophilus James (Sr.); her sons, Malcolm Theophilus James and Vance Wentworth James (Jr.); her daughter, Jacinth Amelia Mescus; and her sisters Olga Viola Phillip Berkel and Evelyn Albena Phillip.
She is survived by her sons, Cedric Cornelius James of St. Maarten and Clifton Addison James of Anguilla, West Indies; daughters, Patricia Mescus of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina and Janet Mescus of Bowie; step daughter, Winifred Mescus Scott of St. Thomas; son-in-law George Alston, II, of Bowie; daughters-in-law, Teresita James and Meredith James; brothers, M. Phillip and James Earl W. Phillip of England; sisters, Pansy Veronica Phillip of St. Kitts, Camilee Lenore Phillip Vanterpool of Anguilla, Sheila Venecia Louise Phillip of Bronx, New York; sisters-in-law, T. Phillip and Sylvia Phillip of England and Esther Bressendorf of St. Thomas; 16 grandchildren; one step-grandson; 18 great-grand children; two step-grandchildren; nine nieces and 13 nephews; special sons and daughter, Tregenza Roach, Neil Graham and Lorna Lettsome of St. Thomas, and Leslie Graham of Orlando, Florida; special friends, Lydia Lockhart, Ruby and Desmond Taylor, and Alan Brown of St. Thomas; and numerous other relatives and friends.
Her family and friends will privately celebrate her life with a return to her birthplace, St. Kitts, in October.