Vidda Ozelia Superville, a loved and loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, passed away on Friday, March 1. She was 88.
Family was with her when she died peacefully at a local hospital. Vidda lived the American dream. She was born on Nov. 28, 1935, in the village of Castara, Tobago, in the West Indies. She was working in a laundry in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad – the sister island of Tobago — when she met a handsome young man named Leslie Superville in 1959; they’d later become husband and wife. Years later, she took a leap of faith and followed Leslie to the United States.
They reunited in New York in 1966. Their son, Learmond (Larry), born years earlier in Trinidad, then joined his parents. Vidda and Leslie added a daughter, Darlene, and a son, Terrance. Her children Colson, Linda and Patrick eventually arrived in New York to complete the family. Vidda did domestic work but gave it up after Terrance was born to stay home and raise the children. The couple bought a house in the Rockaways in 1973. Vidda kept a spotless home, grew beautiful red roses and always baked something fresh for the younger kids after school. She was a great cook long before the Food Network made it cool to be one.
She shared her Caribbean cuisine, especially homemade roti filled with curried meat and potatoes, with neighbors, who couldn’t eat them fast enough. She babysat for neighborhood kids and helped raise some of her grandchildren. Around 2009, Vidda charted a new path by relocating to Florida and moving into a house across the street from Terrance’s in Poinciana. She took daily walks with her dogs – first Princess, then Wally and then Freebie — as well as with some new lady friends. She learned her way around by bus and grew pineapples, limes and mangoes.
She enjoyed trying new recipes, word find puzzles, and watching MSNBC and the “Real Housewives.” Vidda attended parties at the White House where she met Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. She loved and feared God and ended her thoughts about the future with, “God spare.” How we wish God had spared her just a little bit longer.
Vidda was preceded in death by her husband, who died in November 2020; a brother; her parents; and two grandsons.
She is survived by her six children; a brother, Eric; nine grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; Freebie; other relatives and friends.
A visitation and Funeral: 10 a.m., Saturday, March 9, at Conrad & Thompson Funeral Home, 511 Emmett St., Kissimmee, FL 34741 Burial: Rose Hill Cemetery (immediately following services), Kissimmee, FL