Hazel St. Clare Bigby

Hazel St. Clare Bigby (nee Dixon)

2 Timothy 4:7

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.

She was born on June 11, 1937 in Flamstead, St. James, Jamaica, West Indies. She was subsequently registered on July 14, 1937 – and this became her official birthday. She was the third living child of Austin Septimus and Beatrice Claretilda Dixon.

She grew up poor, but had aunts and uncles around in neighboring districts. The family was close and cooperative. She attended the elementary school in Vaughnsfield, ST, James, and she excelled in her studies there and beyond. With no high schools local to her, she attended evening classes and completed her first and second Jamaican local levels before moving to Kingston in the late 1950s.

She tended bar in Denham Town, Kingston while living with her older sister, Sally. At the same time, she was also studying for her third Jamaican local level. After passing the exam, she started working as a teacher’s assistant in Walker’s Wood, St. Ann.

In the early 1960s, she migrated to Sheffield, England where she lived with her brother, Vincent, for a while. In England, she went to school for nursing and midwifery. As a midwife, she traveled by bicycle to perform her deliveries – day or night.

In 1966, she migrated to Oshawa, Ontario where she started working while earning the credentials necessary for to continue her nursing and midwife practice in Canada. She got her credentials complete and went to work again.

That same year, while visiting her brother, in Sheffield, she met Jerome (Jerry) Alonzo Bigby. Since she was only visiting, she returned to Oshawa, but she and Jerry maintained written correspondence until he moved to Toronto in 1967. They reconnected and fell in love. She eventually moved to Toronto, and they got married on June 28th, 1969. They migrated to the United States in 1970, intent on going to Los

Angeles, but stopping in New York City and deciding to stay there and build their new, shared life.

She worked as a nurse at Parkchester Hospital, and then at Beth Abraham Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center. She pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration while working and being the best wife, and mother, that she could. In 1979, she moved back to Jamaica, this time living briefly in Montego Hills, St. James, before finally moving to Lucea in Hanover. She worked at Noel Holmes Hospital while taking care of her children and parents.

In the mid-1980s, she moved back to New York and started working at Bronx Children’s Psychiatric Center, and that is where she remained until her retirement in 1999.

In the late 1980s, she began regularly attending the Church of God of New Rochelle and began her journey to spiritual enlightenment. She immersed herself in the word and made significant changes to her life in accordance. She became the Sunday School Superintendent, and held prominent positions on other various committees. She remained a dedicated member until she left New York State.

In August of 2000, she and Jerry moved to Ocala, Florida. Shortly after her relocation, she joined the Belleview Church of God and remained there until it dissolved in 2023. She lived out the rest of her life in Ocala with a handful of family members in her immediate vicinity. She died on June 3rd, 2026 at 7:16 AM.

She is survived by her loving husband of 57 years, Jerry; her 5 children Lloyd Dubarry (Danny), Byron Roy (Barry), Elaine St. Clare, Jerome Jason, and Heather June. She has 11 grandchildren: Nicky, Julie, Jarrett, Janielle, John, Akelie, Ty-Byron, Queen, AJ, Haley, Harper, Zoë and Jerome; and 6 great-grandchildren. Her daughters- and son-in-law: Vashti, Jean, Dee and Steve. She is a sister to her 3 remaining siblings – her sisters: Lera, Frances and Joyce. She was an aunt to 12 nieces and nephews on the Dixon side – Patricia, Sharon, Elaine, Carol, Gail, Jacqueline, Anthony, Trevor, Richard, Errol, Kerron and Ricardo – and countless nieces and nephews on the Bigby side.