Jamala Shani Fleet

Jamala Fleet was born Jamala Shani Johnson to Mary Etta Johnson and Nathaniel Randall on May 25, 1978, in Baltimore MD. She departed this life in the wee hours of the morning on July 12, 2025, after a hard-fought battle with cancer. Jamala was a captivating infant who stole the hearts of everyone fortunate enough to encounter her. The name Jamala Shani suited her well. It is a Kiswahili name meaning friendly, well mannered, marvelous, and exceedingly rare. Her quirky personality and endearing antics inspired several nicknames such as Knot, Mollie Mash, and Jammin, all of which she cheerfully answered to. Jamala was famous for her peculiar eating habits. No other two-year-old of our acquaintance relished raw vegetables the way that she did. If an onion went missing during meal prep, if you found Jamala, you would likely find her devouring it as if it were an apple. Not surprisingly she enjoyed extremely good health during most of her life. Jamala was often quiet, introspective, and observative as a child. She didn't say much but would take in everything going on around her. She learned a lot that way. She would later apply what she learned to great advantage when she went about the business of building her life. Jamala had a lifelong love of watching movies and could often be found totally absorbed in them. One of her favorites was “The Color Purple,” which she watched countless times in her youth and likely taught her many life lessons. She also dearly loved the movie “The Golden Child.” Movies were her favorite form of entertainment to enjoy with husband and that seemed to enough for her most times. Jamala was strong-willed, dedicated, and determined; qualities that served her well in life. Rarely did she give in to tears, fears or frustrations. She took everything in stride and generally didn’t miss a beat. Jamala was a product of the Baltimore City public school system. She attended Thomas Jefferson Elementary, Greenspring Middle, and graduated from Venable High School in 1996. Jamala was nothing if not tenacious. She established goals for herself early in life and set out to achieve them. Education, employment, marriage, and family Were what she aspired to and in that order. Things went according to plan for her and immediately after graduating high school, Jamala entered the working world. She was a stellar employee of the Renaissance hotel at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor for eight years before moving on to work for Goodwill Industries at the Social Security Administration in 2006. Jamala remained a member of the housekeeping staff at the Social Security Administration for the remainder of her career. It was at the Social Security Administration that Jamala met and married the love of her life, Steven Fleet. Although it produced no children, theirs was a beautiful, even enviable union. Their love for each other was palpable, very obvious to anyone in their vicinity. This was Jamala living her happily ever after movie. They were indeed happy through 8 years of friendship and eleven additional years of marital bliss. Theirs was a union endorsed by Christ, born out of Jamala’s faith walk which spanned much of her youth and all of her adult life. She accepted Christ and became a member of Christ deliverance Baptist Church in 1998. She joined the usher board where she became a valued member. She served on the usher board until she became too ill to continue in that capacity. Until the day of her passing, Jamala never stopped functioning as a well loved and respected member of her church community. At approximately 2:00 AM on July 12, 2025, surrounded by many family members and friends, Jamala took her last breath and slipped away into the waiting arms of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. She was preceded in death by her mother Mary Johnson, and her father Nathaniel Randall. She leaves to cherish her memory, her devoted husband Steven Fleet, her stepdaughter Germany, two sisters, Sabina Walters (Bryan), and Tina Randall, godmother, Vernadine Jones-Jackson and the Jones family, nephew Darius, niece Sanaa as well as a host of family members, friends and her beloved church family.

Jamala Shani Fleet

May 25, 1978 - July 12, 2025