Mary Ann Hernandez

When my best I’ve tried to live… and my best in service to give…Then my Lord will carry me home…Home where pain and sorrow ceases - Home where there’s eternal peace – In God’s ethereal realm, I shall ever roam.MARY ANN JUBILEE HERNANDEZ quietly departed this life on January 8, 2006 at Stella Maris in Timonium, Maryland. Mary Ann, a woman of fierce determination and independence traveled through this life confident in the Word of God, devoted to her family and concerned for the well-being of others.Mary Ann was born on June 11, 1912, here on Leadenhall Street, the seventh of eight children born to Airey and Samuel Jubilee. During the Great Depression, Samuel Jubilee moved his large family to Accomac County, Virginia, where earning a living was more viable. The family returned to Baltimore when Mary Ann was twelve years old.Educated in the Baltimore City Public Schools, Mary Ann believed in the power of education. She graduated from Douglass High School and attended Coppin Normal School. Although she was unable to continue her studies, she loved learning and actively encouraged young people to stay in school. It was on a church hayride in the summer of 1939, that Mary Ann met the love of her life, Harry Onslou Hernandez. After a six-week courtship, the couple married. Out of this union the couple rejoiced in the births of four children, Carlos, Claudia, Elsa and Angelo.The family enjoyed many activities together including boating, travel, and gardening. Mary Ann was known for her love of flowers and plants. Passersby would often stop to admire the beauty of Mary Ann’s gardens; in fact she would insist that neighbors take some seeds or a cutting home to start gardens of their own.A lifelong member of Leadenhall Baptist Church, Mary Ann and her sisters, Louise and Leona, could be seen each and every Sunday, praising God. She believed in Sunday worship and instilled this belief in her children. She would often say, “I just don’t feel right if I don’t go to Church on Sunday. It’s just in me.” Mary Ann loved to talk and she loved the Lord. For several years Mary Ann served as the Superintendent of Sunday School, instructing the children of Leadenhall in the ways of the Lord. Anyone who needed transportation to church could rely on Mary Ann, for she willingly offered a ride to anyone in need. When she could no longer drive or even walk, Mary Ann faithfully attended services every Sunday to worship God and share fellowship with her family and friends.As a small business owner, Mary Ann assisted her husband Harry in the operation of several small businesses including Harry’s Tavern in Elkridge, Maryland, a High’s franchise and barbershop on Dolphin Street and Midway Barbershop on Pennsylvania Avenue. When she lost her beloved husband in 1966, Mary Ann valiantly continued on with the characteristic determination that has been the hallmark of her life. Now a single mother, she worked in the Baltimore City Public Schools, maintained her home and successfully raised her two youngest children into adulthood. With all of this responsibility, Mary Ann performed missionary work, provided a home for her older brother Samuel, and provided shelter and guidance for young people trying to make their way in life.Mary Ann rejoiced in the lives and accomplishments of her family. She was acknowledged as the loving matriarch whose opinion and guidance was sought out and respected by all. She was an active and vocal participant in the lives of her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nephews and nieces. Whether you called her Mama, Grandma Mary, Granny, or Aunt Mary she believed that her children and indeed all children, were the promise of the future. Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation. For they are us, our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life. --Albert EinsteinMary Ann Jubilee Hernandez loved a celebration. We are heartbroken, we are sad. But we are her today to celebrate for we are blessed beyond all knowing to have had her in our lives. Mary Ann leaves to cherish her memory her sons and daughters-in-law, Carlos and Grace Hernandez and Angelo and Karen Hernandez; daughter Claudia Copeland; and daughter and son-in-law Elsa and Edward Singleton. Grandchildren Michael, Mark, Maria, Martin, Eduardo, Valencia, Raymond, Paige and Nicholas; twenty-five great grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. Nieces and nephews Ina Rae and Thomas Dawson, Cardillo Griffin, Jr., and their children Angela, Gayle, Deborah, Thomas Jr., David and Michelle; Eugene and Benjamin Jubilee; Norma Mitchell of Las Vegas, Nevada, Sheila Davis of Poughkeepsie New York, Liz McCormick of New York City, and numerous other nephews, nieces, cousins and friends.We thank God for sharing Mary Ann with us!

Tributes

Mary Ann Hernandez

June 11, 1912 - January 8, 2006