Mrs. Valerie Cheryl Kendall, M.Sc., C.T.R.A., transitioned peacefully from this earthly life on May 31 at the Georgetown University Medical Center (Washington, D.C.) in the presence of her husband, retired Judge Leon A. Kendall, who survives her, together with her siblings: retired Maj. Randolph “Rannie” Johnson, Mrs. Christine Mitchell (Winston) and Mr. Kenrick “Ken” Johnson.
Mrs. Kendall was born in Georgetown, Guyana, (formerly British Guiana) on March 4, 1950, to the late Mr. Samuel Randolph Johnson, a schoolmaster from Hopetown, Berbice Guyana, and the late Mrs. Olive Gillis Johnson, a homemaker from Georgetown, Guyana.
She attended St. Andrew’s Primary School and commenced her secondary education at the Guyana Education Trust Allen High School/AME Zion High School in Georgetown, Guyana. At age 16, Kendall immigrated to the United States to live with her mother in Brooklyn, New York. In June 1969, she completed her secondary education at Prospect Heights High School where she excelled in her studies and was awarded her high school diploma.
Kendall was unyielding in her pursuit of knowledge and higher education. She attended Brooklyn College of the City University of New York on a full scholarship. On Feb. 1, 1974, she graduated from that institution with her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. She later obtained employment with the New York State’s Manhattan Psychiatric Center on Ward Island and rose to the rank of senior recreation therapist. While employed there, she enrolled in graduate school at Hunter College and obtained her Master of Science degree in Therapeutic Recreation on Oct. 3, 1986.
Kendall was later certified as a therapeutic recreation assistant by the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation, thereby authorizing her to use the initials “C.T.R.A” to indicate her professional competency. In January 1987, she successfully completed a graduate program at Long Island University and was awarded a certificate in Gerontological Studies.
After approximately 20 years of employment with the Manhattan Psychiatric Center, Kendall retired and relocated to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, in 1995 to join her husband whom she married in 1992.
While living in the Virgin Islands, she received a certificate in assistive technology from the territory’s Department of Human Services through the University of the Virgin Islands. Kendall resumed her career as the director of independent living for the territory’s Department of Human Services and was later promoted to director of cancer care, a position she held until her retirement in 2009.
In addition to a career dedicated to public service, she especially enjoyed living in the Virgin Islands, and she looked forward to regularly visiting its beautiful beaches and partaking of their scenic and cultural vistas, especially Carnival. She will be sorely missed for her kind, warm, witty, generous, luminous and loving spirit. She faced challenges personal and professional with courage grounded in the conviction that goodness always prevails.
In addition to her parents, Kendall was also predeceased by her daughter, Janelle Sealey, and sister-in-law, Dianah Johnson.
Other survivors include her aunt, Mrs. Barbara Lashley; stepchildren: Nzingha, Rudy and Consuelo Kendall, and Wayne Sealey; sisters-in-law: Gwynne “Baba” Kendall, Maria “Ri” Davis, Cheryl McBain (Pat), Izetta “Pinkey” Kendall and Euphazine Kendall; brothers-in-law: Mark Kendall MD and William “Ossie” Kendall (Barbara); nephews: Rafer Johnson, Andre Johnson, Aradin Mitchell, Sherwin Mitchell and Regis Bryant; cousins: Ingrid Robinson, Yvette Wills, Pauline Matheson(Leslie), Joy Holder, Penny Khan, Aubrey Holder (Lynnsyd), Peter Braz, Joey Braz, Carl Braz, Thekla Holder, Debbie David (Oswald), Debbie Holder, Pat Holder, Peter Holder, Dawn Rodney, Ronald Lashley, Andrew Lashley and Earl Lashley; as well as many other relatives, friends and loved ones too numerous to mention.
A celebration of Mrs. Kendall’s life and her interment was held on June 9 at the Fort Lincoln Funeral Home, 3401 Bladensburg Road, Brentwood, Md., 20722.
