Geraldine Vivian Daniels Shavers died on Sunday, May 27. She was 99.

She was born on Feb. 15, 1919, at Brooklyn Hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y., to her parents, Mr. Egbert Herman Daniels and Mrs. Rose Bryant, and spent her life raising her family and serving the Bedford-Stuyvesant, N.Y., and Oak Bluffs communities.

An avid reader and learner, Mrs. Shavers graduated from Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, and continued her education at Delehanty Institute and Adelphi University. She retired from King’s County Hospital as an administrative assistant in the pathology department. She was a lifelong member of First African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (formerly known as Fleet Street Church) where she met her husband, the late Rev. Darrell Shavers Sr., to whom she was married for 62 years. Dedicated to service, Ma Shavers, as she was affectionately known, participated in many ministries of the church, and she was one of the eldest original members at the time of her passing.

Mrs. Shavers was a charter and lifetime member of the Stuy-Park Lions Club from District 20-K1 of the Lions International. She served as the president of her Block Association, and a board member of the St. Mark’s Day Care Center. She was a 60-year member of an internationally renowned self-help organization, and served as a lifeline of support to many people. Mrs. Shavers was also a founding member of the St. George’s Society Chapter No. 70 at King’s County Hospital, and was board member of Boy Scout Troop 199.

As civil rights activists, Mrs. Shavers and members of her family traveled to Washington, D.C., in the summer of 1963 to witness Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his I Have a Dream speech during the March on Washington. She also participated in peaceful demonstrations against discriminatory hiring practices at Downstate Hospital in Brooklyn in the 1960s. Her mind was sharp and her wit was keen. From Shakespeare to Langston Hughes, Ma Shavers could recite from memory dozens of poems she learned in her youth. She deposited her love and wisdom into those around her, and insisted that her children and grandchildren achieve high academic goals. Until the very end, she spent her days sharing plans with her family by her side.

Ma Shavers enjoyed cooking, sewing, fishing, home improvement and playing Scrabble. She grabbed a chain saw and goggles and built a deck onto the family home at Martha’s Vineyard. From her perch at the corner of the porch, she visited with friends and family, held court, greeted people walking by and enjoyed the life God had blessed her with.

Mrs. Shavers was preceded in death by her husband; her daughter, Regina Shavers; son, Darrell Shavers Jr.; sisters Elaine Daniels and Grace Lewis; brother Roy Daniels; and cousin Dolores Lovelace. Left to remember Ma Shavers are her daughter in law, Diane Shavers, of Jamaica, N.Y.; granddaughter, Tene Shavers of Brooklyn, N.Y.; grandsons Damon Shavers of Jamaica, N.Y., and Gregory Shavers and his wife, Christy, of Charleston, W.Va.; great-grandsons Maxwell Shavers and Myles Royer; great-granddaughter Quinci Shavers; sister Marie Jackson; brother Bernard Daniels; nephews, Marc and Michael Daniels and George Taylor; nieces, Rita Airitam, Leslie Jackson, Stephanie Daniels, and Stephanie Taylor; cousins Kimberly Douglas and Marcia Small; goddaughter Shani White; and daughter of-her heart Jaynce Jackson, as well as many other loved ones.

The family extends special thanks to her godson David Van Leesten; cousin Dorothy Thomas; and dear friend and brother of her heart Samuel Sands for their thoughtful and committed love, care and support of Ma Shavers during the past several years.