Obituary of Naomi Haywood

Naomi Roselma Haywood, fondly known to family and friends as "Na," passed away on May 4, 2020 at Sullivan County Adult Care Center, where she was a beloved resident since January 2012. She was 96 years old. Naomi Roselma Smith was born to Rev. Gratnie Minor Smith (1892-1976) and Mary Magdalene “Maggie” Luster Smith (1890-1978) on February 28, 1924 in Claremont, Virginia. She was one of thirteen children born to her parents. Naomi accompanied her parents and siblings as a child when the family migrated to Harlem in 1936. She graduated from Wadleigh High School for Girls in Harlem in January 1944. During World II, she was a certified junior instructor in first aid for the Red Cross and worked in a factory making C-rations for American soldiers overseas. In June 1946, she married a member of her father’s church in Harlem, George Haywood, to whom she was happily married for 35 years. The couple had two daughters. Naomi accepted Christ at a young age and was active in church work as a pianist, choir member, and Vacation Bible School Teacher at Radio Church of God in Harlem. From 2002, she was a member of the First Church of God in South Fallsburg, where she lived the latter part of her life. There, she was a Sunday School teacher and church pianist. Naomi earned an Associate’s degree in Applied Science (Bronx Community College, 1975), Bachelor of Arts degree (Herbert H. Lehman College, CUNY, 1978), and Master of Sciences degree in Early Childhood Education (Herbert H. Lehman College, CUNY, 1981), and taught public school at P.S. 26X in the Bronx, where she was recognized for outstanding service, until her retirement in 1994. All of her life, she was generous, jovial, and steady in her faith. She deeply loved her family. She greatly enjoyed fishing, and is warmly remembered for her cooking, stories, laughter, and devotion to God. Naomi was predeceased by her husband, George Haywood; daughter, Gabriella Haywood, and son-in-law, Robert Augustin Lockley. She is survived by her daughter, Rose Elma Lockley; grandchildren, Robert Troy Lockley, Ingrid Genevieve Lockley, Xavier Voltaire Lockley, and Love Conception Lockley-Bender (husband, Patrick Bender, Sr.); four great-grandchildren, and four great-great grandchildren; sisters Mary Searles, Bethsheba Young, and Orpha Battle; and a host of nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, great-grandnieces, and great-grandnephews. The family wishes to thank the nurses and staff of Sullivan County Adult Care Center for their eldercare services, and all friends for their loving, kind prayers and expressions of sympathy. A restricted viewing and interment at Rock Ridge Cemetery in Monticello, NY will be held on Saturday, May 9, 2020 – arranged by Colonial Memorial Funeral Home. Additional memorial events will be held once public health conditions permit. To leave an online condolence please visit www.colonialfamilyfuneralhomes.com. Memorial donations may be made to the First Church of God, South Fallsburg, NY. Arrangements under the care of Colonial Memorial Funeral Home, for further information call 845-434-7363 or visit www.colonialfamilyfuneralhomes.com