Nurista Rowena Vernon, affectionately known as "Shirley," was born in Tangle River, Flamstead Gardens, St. James, Jamaica on Sunday, June 15, 1941, the eldest child to Alphonzo and Flora Ann Banton. Nurista was reared by her grandparents, Benjamin and Lunnie Marks, who adopted   Flora. Nurista attended Vaughansfield Primary School and then went to Northwestern Academy (High School) in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Nurista decided at an early age that she wanted to be a nurse as she watched the community nurse's calm and cool demeanor and her bright white uniform. She was quoted in a nursing article, saying, "Nurse Shaw delivered all of my mother's babies. Dressed in all white, she was like a family member to everyone in the community. Everyone looked up to her. She was well-respected."

After completing high school in December 1958, her Uncle - Charles Marks, arranged for her to emigrate to the United Kingdom to pursue a nursing career. She attended  Lincoln School of Nursing and graduated with a registered nurse diploma three years later. She had earned the right to wear the same spotless, starched, white uniform like Nurse Shaw. She went on to complete post graduate coursework in Operating Room Technique at Popular Hospital and Mid-wifery at Central Middlesex Hospital in London. Nurista worked at Willesden General Hospital, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Prince of Wales Hospital as a Head Nurse.

In England, Nurista met her first husband, Steadman Richard Martin. Their marriage borne two children: Ann-Marie and Audrey Penelope. Their union eventually ended by divorce.

She returned to Jamaica in December 1968 and worked as the Charge Nurse at Morrison Private Clinic. In 1971, she moved to New York and worked at NYU Medical Center as an Operating Room Specialist. She later relocated to Miami in 1972 and worked at Mount Sinai Hospital as a staff nurse for 10 years, followed by a 14-year tenure at Miami Heart Institute where she received several promotions, going from Operating Room Staff Nurse to Nurse Manager of daily operations for the O.R. and Central Services. During this tenure (November 1982), she married Newton "Paul" Reid. They later divorced.

Eventually, she was recruited by Golden Glades Hospital to serve as Director of Perioperative Services until the merger and closure of the hospital. In 1998, she joined the Perioperative Staff at Jackson Memorial Hospital as an Associate Nurse Manager for Gynecology/Oncology and Pediatric General Surgery until her retirement on July 31, 2009. While at Jackson (1999), she earned a B. Sc. in Health Care Administration from the University of Palmers Green, London.

Some of her professional accomplishments include Certification in Perioperative Nursing Practice; appointment to the clinical faculty of Barry University School of Podiatry Medicine; served as clinical expert to the Florida Nurses Association; named R.N. of the year, Jackson Memorial Hospital; nominated as Outstanding Preceptor, Jackson Memorial Hospital; and Certification of Appreciation from the Obstetrics/Gyne-cology Residents Class of 2003 and 2004, Jackson Memorial Hospital/University of Miami for outstanding performance and lasting contributions. Her sister Valerie says, "her accomplishments are indicative of the kind of woman she was. Whatever she did, she did it extremely well. She always went above and beyond."

In 2000, she married Herman Vernon. The union eventually ended by divorce.

Nurista was a cradle to grave Anglican and raised her children accordingly. She and her family have worshipped at Holy Family for almost three decades. As an active church member, she participated in the following ministries: Usher, Counting, Alter Guild, and Daughters of the King. She was an avid reader blessed with skillful hands: she knitted, crocheted, tatted, embroidered, and sewed with the same expertise and precision she used in the operating room assisting doctors and comforting her patients.

Nurista will be missed by Children: Ann-Marie and Audrey; Grand-daughter: Brittany; Children she helped to raise: Devon, Kerisha, and Sadé; and Siblings: Valerie, Revel and Desmond; and a host of other blood and familial relatives and friends, including nieces, nephews, and her guardian angel, Sandra.

She was pre-deceased by siblings: Lascelles, Sonnia, Dalton, and Basil.