AHOSKIE – With five children, 14 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren, it’s amazing how Joann Beverly Faison managed to work outside the home.

But she did, and performed those duties with the same love and compassion that burned within her heart for her own flesh and blood.

Even though she was forced to quit her job at Ahoskie’s Pinewood Manor due to health reasons and would eventually succumb at the age of 68 in August of last year, the love she shared at her former place of employment was always returned, to include a recent special event held at the facility.

In honor and memory of the woman known affectionately as “Mrs. Pinewood”, officials at the local nursing home dedicated a photo of Faison and proudly hung it inside their office.

“She was always everywhere for everybody,” said her husband, the Rev. Roy Faison, at the dedication ceremony. “Pinewood Manor was her home away from home. You all kept her busy. I’m so glad that you all decided to forever make her a part of this special place in her life.”

Faison said he fondly referred to his wife as “Mrs. Pinewood.”

“Everybody knew her…not just the patients and staff here, but the doctors, nurses and medical specialists that interacted with the staff and patients here nearly on a daily basis,” he stressed. “Even the pharmacists knew her. She played a big role at Pinewood.”

Faison said it commonplace for his wife to keep him waiting as she would often work beyond the time that her shift ended.

“On the days when I would come and pick her up, she would come out to the car and tell me she would be about 30 more minutes,” he recalled. “About 45 minutes later she would come out and say she still had to complete her paperwork for the day and I would briefly leave and come back a half-hour later and she would come to the car and say she’d be another 20 minutes. But that’s how she worked; everything had to be in order before her day was done.

“There are so many good memories of this place – Pinewood Manor for me and my family. I feel my wife grew in stature here and I thank you all so much, from the bottom of our hearts, for allowing this special day to take place and to remember my wife and my children’s mother in this special way,” Faison said.

In sharing his wife’s life story, Rev. Faison said she was a native of Bronx, NY and had attended Monroe College in New Rochelle, NY. She worked as a Home Care Attendant while living in Yonkers, NY before she and Rev. Faison, a native of Ahoskie, moved back to his hometown in 1995 in order for him to launch his ministry. A short time later she began working at Pinewood Manor, beginning as a Medical Technician and ending her career there 12 years later as Assistant Administrator.

“Joann lived a rewarding life,” said Rev. Faison. “The Lord answered her prayers as she was able to see all five of her children grow up and become successful in their careers – Vance, a retired Correctional Officer in New York; Lori, who still works for a large firm in New York City; James, who works for Blue Cross Blue Shield in Atlanta; Lisa, who works for a pharmaceutical firm in New York; and Destiny, a schoolteacher here in Hertford County. All of her children, and then later all the grandchildren, gave her great reward in life.”

The dedication of the photograph also drew remarks from two of Mrs. Faison’s daughters.

“Whenever I called my mom on the phone she would constantly talk about Pinewood Manor,” said Lori Williams. “She loved everybody here…the patients and the staff. When I would come down for a visit, I’d come here and pick her up when her shift ended and she always came out the door with a smile on her face. She never complained about anything. I’m very grateful that she’s being recognized in this way at Pinewood. She deserves it. She bought love to this job; she cared for those here and she did the same thing at home.

“We all miss her very, very much. Her death is still fresh on our minds and we take it day-by-day through God’s grace and mercy. He gets us through these days. But she’s probably smiling down at us today and saying, ‘me, they’re honoring me?’ She was always so humble, but I know she’s smiling from ear-to-ear. Thank you Pinewood for loving her; she loved you right back,” Williams added.

Destiny Faison, Joann’s youngest daughter, wore her emotions on her sleeve as she fondly remembered her mom’s time on Earth and at Pinewood Manor.

“I would come in the afternoons and pick her up from work when my schedule allowed,” she recalled. “She never said a bad word about this place; she loved everybody here. They were her second family. She was a loving, caring woman.”

Destiny stressed that her mom always tried to keep people “on the right path.”

“She was a very influential person, always very positive; there was something special about her…she could walk in a room and not say a word, but you knew she was there,” she noted. “She had a fragrance about her…you couldn’t smell it, but you feel it on the inside.

“She was my rock; she was my best friend,” Destiny continued. “On the weekends when she wasn’t working and I was out of school we would go shopping. We were always together; when she died a big chunk of me left.

“I know she’s looking down on us today; she’s proud of her family, her co-workers and Pinewood…thank you for honoring her,” Destiny closed.

“I had the opportunity to meet Mrs. Faison, but I came here after she had retired,” said current-day Pinewood Administrator Urshell Strayhorn. “From what I’ve been told she was a wonderful person and it’s amazing to me of how the Lord has allowed Mr. Faison and his family to show their love for her. It’s a blessing for us to honor her in this way.”

When the Lord did call Joann Faison home on Aug. 3, 2015, the scripture calls for one of the most well-used verses in honor of individuals such as “Mrs. Pinewood” who toiled all their lives, but kept their heart and mind open for their Creator…“Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” (Matthew 25:21)