Memorial Services for Cedella Marley Booker Tonight

If you want to go pay your respects to Mother Booker, the eclectic mother of reggae legend Bob Marley, all the info that you'll need is below in the press release.

--Jonathan Cunningham

Cedella Marley Booker Memorial Service for the South Florida Community Set for April 15 at Fairchild

Cedella Booker, mother of Reggae legend Bob Marley, passed on to Zion at her south Miami, Florida, home on Tues., April 8, 2008. She was 81 years old.

A special Memorial Service will be held Tues., April 15, from 7 PM to 10 PM, inside the Garden House at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Coral Gables. Fairchild is located at 10901 Old Cutler Road in south Miami-Dade.

Affectionately known as Mother Booker, the celebration of love and music will honor her life and achievements, and will provide the opportunity for her many South Florida friends, fans, and family members to bid her a fond farewell.

An artist in her own right, Cedella Marley Booker recorded solo and collaboration albums, performed in the U.S., Jamaica, Europe, Mexico, and Africa, and authored a book, Bob Marley, My Son.

“I can not put into words the extraordinary bond between mother and son, a bond that cannot be broken,” son Richard Booker relates. “My mother is a rare woman, loved by everyone she met. I know that she is in the hands of Jah and will never be forgotten here on earth.”

Grounded in faith and Rastafari, Cedella Booker showed the world a peacefulness and love that she openly shared with everyone who surrounded her. In the spirit of Bob Marley, Mother Booker founded Movement of Jah People, an organization that benefits the underprivileged in South Florida and the Caribbean.

Among Mother B’s achievements is the adoption of the Nine Mile Basic School in St. Ann, Jamaica, where she and Bob Marley were born and laid to rest, now called the Cedella Marley Booker Academy. She is also associated with Rhoden Hall Basic School and Eight Mile Basic School in St. Ann.

Cedella Marley Booker is survived by son Richard Booker, daughters-in-law Rita Marley and Sharien Fogle-Booker, daughter Claudette “Pearl” Livingston, nephew Jimmy Brown, 14 grandchildren, and 49 great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Cedella Marley Booker Academy. Please make checks payable to the Nine Mile Charitable Foundation at 5800 Sunset Drive, Miami, FL 33156.