Pierre Jean-Laurent

On Wednesday January 6th, 2021, Jean Joseph Pierre Jean-Laurent (a.k.a Laurent) passed away peacefully at the age of 85. He was born on January 10, 1935 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti from the union of Agnes Desrouleaux and Lewis Jean-Laurent. He was the beloved husband of Edith (Augustin) Jean-Laurent for 59 years. He was the devoted father of Myriam (Jean-Laurent) Kelley and her husband Shawn Kelley of East Amherst, New York, Margarette (Jean-Laurent) Pierre and her husband Yves Norton Pierre of West Orange, New Jersey, and Pierre Jean-Laurent Jr, and his wife Adjoavi (Darbouze) Jean-Laurent of Andover, Massachusetts. Cherished brother of Mac Arthur, Camélise, Juliana, Pierre Antoine, Arsène, René, Anne-Marie, Marie-Claire, Jeanine and Denise. Loving grandpa of seven grandchildren Melissa and Alexander Kelley, Kimberly, Cory-Anne and McKenzy Pierre, Dimitry and Brianna Jean-Laurent. He is also survived by many loving nieces, nephews, cousins and in-laws. Pierre was a strong family man who dedicated his entire life to the benefits of others. Until his last breath, he maintained an optimistic outlook on life, believing that through hard work, everything is possible. Born in poverty, he sacrificed much of his social life to enhance the well-being of his loved ones. His main goal in life was to ensure they did not endure the early tragedies that he experienced during his upbringing. At the tender age of five, Pierre lost his mother, Agnes. From this tragic misfortune, he garnered the strength that would eventually make him the steady beacon of hope for his entire family. His primary schooling took place in the rural section of the town of Cazeau. He then did a brief stint at a trade institution in the Cite St Martin, before going back for secondary schooling at the Lycee Toussaint Louverture in Port-au-Prince. He remained enrolled there until he completed his first year of high school. At this time, he was offered a scholarship to learn a new trade in the northern village of Bayeux. Pierre saw this as an opportunity to accelerate his entrance into the workforce, thereby decreasing the financial burden of the family. In Bayeux, Pierre learned basic medical support skills such as CPR, vaccine administration, wound care among others. At the end of the Bayeux apprenticeship period, he was offered a full-time work position at the Red Cross organization in the western town of Matthieu near the city of Leogane. Pierre’s dream had fully taken shape. He was going to build a strong family rooted in christian values, with a solid education and financial sufficiency. He was set on his long life journey to found a family, build his own house and become self-employed. In 1957, Laurent met his wife, Edith, in Leogane. He had recently moved there following his fruitful Bayeux experience. On December 28 1961, Laurent and Edith married at the city’s St Rose church. That same evening, they both moved to Port-au-Prince, the city where their three children, Myriam, Margarette and Pierre Jr were successfully brought up. Back in Port-au-Prince, Laurent worked arduously to support his family. He worked primarily in the printing industry, holding multiple jobs at once with a variety of news organizations including La Presse Nationale, Le Nouveliste, Le Matin, to just name a few. With this strenuous schedule, he could hardly afford more than a few hours of sleep a night. Sometimes, he would not get any sleep at all. In 1968, in order to fulfill his dream of financial sufficiency for his family, he made the heart wrenching decision to seek better employment in the United States, knowing that he would have to miss many precious moments of his three children's upbringing. While in the US, Laurent was completely aware of the finest details of his family life in Haiti through copious snail mail correspondence with his spouse. Telephone conversations were mostly out of financial reach for nearly 10 years following his departure. His priority was to ensure that his family was not in basic need and that his progeny received a great education. With the help of his spouse, his children graduated from the country's top high schools. Laurent would come home to visit every other Christmas. These visits were the best Christmas gifts his family could have ever asked for. When Laurent moved to New York City in 1968, he worked as a linotypist for a printing shop for approximately five years. He quickly became a great fan of baseball, his favourite team bouncing between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets. He also turned into a fervent consumer of wrestling entertainment. In 1972, he started driving gipsy cabs on weekends to supplement his regular printing shop income. He quickly became familiar with the streets of New York City and soon was driving yellow cabs for a taxi agency. Shortly thereafter, he was granted a loan to purchase his own taxi license medallion and his very first yellow cab limousine. He had fulfilled his dream of becoming his own boss. By 1977, he had saved enough to purchase a house in Haiti at a location where he would eventually build two new dwellings according to his own preferences. In 2001, Laurent retired from driving his cab to move back to Haiti and be with his wife Edith. At this point, his three children had graduated from college and had started their own families using the strong values he had instilled in them. He would eventually move back to the US to tend to his increasingly fragile health. He fought many health battles and came out triumphant most of the time. Throughout these rough episodes, he continued to maintain and communicate a strong positive outlook on life's future. He never lost hope that he would one day go back to his native country. Aside from his constant optimism and impeccable family devotion, Pierre was generous, courageous, empathetic, welcoming, persevering, responsible and kind with a great sense of humour. He enjoyed discussing politics, and was well versed in Haitian history. Pierre always had an amusing story to share about his beloved wife, whom he had fondly nicknamed Ditoche. He would narrate their occasional escapades to the beach, a soccer game or a concert. He was extremely proud of his family and would happily regale you with tales of their accomplishments. He was a wealth of knowledge with an incredible memory. Those who knew him well were able to earnestly draw from this readily available source of knowledge. The humility he held in regards to his life accomplishments while helping others may be his strongest trait. His hard work has left an everlasting impact on all of us. Pierre always put his faith in the hands of God, trusting that God would guide him amid life's major decisions. He was the most astonishing husband and partner to Edith and will always be remembered as a wonderful father, grandfather, brother, uncle, cousin, in-law, godfather and friend. Pierre is now resting in peace in the Lord’s hands. He had fulfilled his destiny and accomplished in this life what he had set out to achieve. Pierre touched so many lives and will be deeply missed. It is under this eternal influence that his memory will be kept alive (Strength through Humility). Please join us for the celebration of Jean-Joseph Pierre Jean-Laurent’s life. A viewing event will be held on Saturday January 16th at 9:30 a.m., at the St Raphael Parish located on 346 E Mount Pleasant Avenue in Livingston New Jersey. This will be followed by a memorial service starting at 11:00 a.m. Live streaming of both viewing and mass celebration links will be available by personal invitation for those who are unable not to attend in person. If you are so inclined to donate a gift, please consider contributing to either the Prostate Cancer Foundation (cure.pcf.org) or ZERO The End of Prostate Cancer (zerocancer.org) in honor of Jean Joseph Pierre Jean-Laurent.