Hazel Medas, aged 66, died peacefully in her sleep on September 23, 2017 at her home in Cambria Heights, after a lengthy struggle with the residual effects of two strokes.  Born Hazel Hermina Thomas on October 30, 1950 in Georgetown, Guyana, Hazel was raised by her grandmother, amid a tight knit family of her brother, cousins, aunts, and uncles.

Like many in her family before her, Hazel was a member of St. Sidwell’s Anglican Church.  She attended Chatham High School, where she established many lifelong friendships.  In 1969, she emigrated to the United States, where she lived in Brooklyn, New York.  After graduating from the Washington Business Institute of New York in 1972, Hazel first worked as a secretary.  In 1978, she accepted a position as a Typist/Word Processor at accounting firm, Eisner & Lubin, LLP, where she remained employed until falling ill in 2011. 

Hazel was a proud mother to two daughters:  Michelle Watson, born September 6, 1972, with her then husband, George Watson.  And Shareeka Medas, born November 7, 1985, with her husband Robert Medas.   She proudly boasted that she got the son that she always wanted with the arrival of her nephew, Jermaine Beckles, from Guyana in 1999, who lived with the family in their Cambria Heights residence. 

Hazel was a stout believer in living life to its fullest.  She took great pride in her home and loved to adorn it with lavish furnishings and décor.  She often stated that she should have been an interior decorator.  In addition to her interests in home décor, she thoroughly enjoyed entertaining friends, shopping, travelling the world, took up cake baking/decorating later in her life and was well known by her family and friends for her exceptional cooking capabilities.  She was a member of Stewardess Board #2, and the Edith White Ming Unit of the Nora F Taylor Missionary Society at her church home, The Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral of New York.

Hazel is survived by her husband, Robert, who tirelessly cared for her throughout her illness, daughters, Michelle and Shareeka, brother, Jerome, and nephew, Jermaine, as well as ten remaining nieces and nephews.  She also leaves behind numerous loving relatives and friends.

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