KELLITS, Clarendon – After listening to the tributes that his relatives and friends gushed in his honour, new centenarian Zelutha Mitchell, better known as Mass Zellie, did a quick reflection and made a profound declaration.
“I never try to hurt nobody,” he said, adding that the expressed accounts of his generosity are true.
His relatives, marking his 100th birthday, threw him a party on a sunny and tranquil Saturday afternoon, 15 February 2025, at Evelyn Mitchell Infant School in Brandon Hill district, located near Kellits, Clarendon.
Mass Zellie was born to Neressa and Ezekiel Mitchell in a section of Brandon Hill known as Wedge Well on a Tuesday, 10 February 1925.
He migrated to England 7 May 1955 when he was 30 years old.
While abroad, he spent some time being employed to the Ministry of Works. He also was a factory and construction worker.
Mass Zellie returned to Jamaica in 1978 and resettled at Wedge Well district, where he resumed farming – planting sugarcane, yams, potatoes and other crops.
He is no longer fit to till the soil, but he still moves around independently and his memory remains sharp.
His nephew Gladstone Johnson, at the party, revealed: “Just very recently, we got another medical thing done which showed him (Mass Zellie) a very good profile.”
Mass Zellie’s daughter Deloria Haynes, who sat by her dad’s side at a table placed on a platform, was among people who flew into the island to celebrate the usually elusive century.
She assisted him in cutting his birthday cake and presented him with a birthday card from no less a person than King Charles III.
The card, with a photo of the King and his wife Camilla on its cover, reads: “We are so pleased to know that you are celebrating your 100th birthday on 10th February 2025. This [birthday card] brings our warmest congratulations and heartfelt good wishes on such a special occasion.”
Haynes attributed her dad’s milestone to ‘the favour of God’, adding that it appears surreal.
“I am still processing what 100 looks like; I still can’t believe my dad is actually 100,” she told the gathering. “Dad, I wish you happy 100th birthday on behalf of me, Beverly, Neville, and Steven.”
Haynes also opined that her father made the right choice when he returned to Jamaica, adding that she is appreciative of the love that he has been getting from relatives and Wedge Well residents.
His caregiver Jacqueline Bailey, affectionately called Vie, was asked to stand as she was being specially recognized and given a rousing round of applause for what Johnson described as the ‘fantastic job’ that she has been doing taking care of his uncle, Mass Zellie.
Mass Zellie is among six children for his parents; the others being Archibald, Inez, Loveria, Merrel, and Robert who is the only living sibling.
At the birthday party, Robert belted out a song that he dedicated to his bother.
He later told The Beacon: “He (Mass Zellie) is a humble man and he is still a strong man. He loves his family, and all of us [siblings] live in unity and love and respect for each other.”
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