Marie Denise Loiseau

MARIE DENISE LOISEAU was born in Haiti to Francis Patrick O’Neill and Laura Joseph on July 7, 1932. Though her dream was to become a lawyer, the political climate in Haiti was such that she had to pursue a less controversial vocation, so she decided on nursing. That decision led to her migrating to Canada to complete her education. While in Canada she returned to Haiti often. It was during one of those trips that she fell in love with Alphonse Loiseau, a minor political figure in Haiti. She subsequently got married to him, and that year, their wedding was the social event of the season. The following year, Marie gave birth to her first child in Haiti. Alphonse and Marie agreed that Marie would return to Canada to pursue her masters in nursing and Alphonse would stay in Haiti to look after Cassy. After several years, the political climate in Haiti again bought about change in Marie’s life. Alphonse and Cassy had to come to America. They moved to New York where Alphonse pursued a writing career and Marie continued on with nursing. She bought two multi-family houses in Brooklyn, her family resided at the Pennsylvania Avenue address and from the sixties to the mid-late seventies she worked as an emergency room nurse at the notorious General Hospital in Brooklyn. In 1971, she moved her family to Hempstead, Long Island, and in the late seventies she worked as Head Floor Nurse at Mayfair Nursing Home in Long Island. The culmination of her nursing career was when she received The New York State Nurse of Distinction Award in the early 90’s. In the early millennium, Marie bought yet another house, this time in Maryland where her eldest daughter resides. Marie had five children, Cassandre, born in 1962, Ronald, born in 1965, Manon, born in 1966, Marie Denise, who was born in 1967 and then died in 1967, and Alphonse Loiseau, Jr., who was born in 1969 and then died in 1975. Her husband, Alphonse, passed away while in Haiti in 1994. Marie loved to travel. In the seventies, she toured Europe with her husband. In the nineties, she went to the Middle East where she visited the Holy Land, dodged Palestinian snipers and rode on both donkeys and camels. In 2008, she took what she considered the trip of her lifetime when she went on a religious pilgrimage to Lourdes and Fatima. Marie loved to bargain. She prided herself in never paying full price for anything. She fully understood the art of the haggle, and would leave the most well-seasoned merchants in tears after she finished with them. Marie was also an avid coupon cutter and embraced wholeheartedly the idea of the weekly store circular. Marie loved the BBC, from the old English sitcoms, to the cultural phenomenon of Eastenders, as well as PBS’ Masterpiece Theatre. The only American shows she liked to watch were Becker, Jag and Mad Men. She said that Becker was the only true depiction of a doctor she ever saw on television. The pleasure she took in Jag was largely due to her appreciation for tall dark men in crisp white suits, and Mad Men featured another tall dark man, but this time in vintage Armani. Marie loved current events, once she retired, she found true joy in reading at least two newspapers a day. She also watched at least one local news program a day, the World News, BBC News, 360 with Anderson Cooper and The Daily Show with John Stewart. She understood the way the world worked and needless to say she will be looking down on the 2012 elections with a very critical eye. Marie loved to laugh, she was amused by the peculiarities she saw in her children. From Cassy’s foray into crocheting, then calligraphy, then photography; to Ronald’s collection of baseball cards, then World War II memorabilia, then comic books; and Manon’s need to take in every stray cat and dog she could get her hands on. Her laugh was memorable. Whenever Marie and her twin sister Martha got together, they would sit on the sofa, purvey the scene of their children and grandchildren, and every few minutes Marie’s clear Sopranic laugh would ring out. Marie loved to love, the most important job she held was that of a mother, and then a grandmother. Her reason for early retirement was so she could stay home and take care of her first grandchild Nikira, and the highlight of her evenings were the daily phone calls she shared with her son Ronald’s children, Ronald Jr., Gabriella and Raphael. Marie loved her God. Though her life held many disappointments and tragedies, from not being able to pursue the career she truly wanted, to the early deaths of two of her children as well as the death of her husband, her faith was unyielding, and she thought that Divine reasoning was unquestionably in place. So though she had lost her children as well as her soul mate, her belief and faith in God, Jesus and the Holy Trinity kept her resilient. Marie loved many things, from hot pink Louis XIV velvet couches, to the café au lait and assorted breads with low sodium, low sugar peanut butter she had every morning. She loved and was proud that she helped bring some of her family in from Haiti. She loved life-sized statues of domestic and wildlife animals, and tropical fish she never could have because of Manon’s cats. She loved Court TV, Maury Pauvich and Joel Osteen sermons, she loved tending her garden, fried shrimp and Andre champagne. …But most of all, Marie was loved. Marie Denise leaves to cherish her memory: her loving children, Cassandre Epps, Ronald Loiseau and Manon Loiseau; her grandchildren, Nikira Epps, Ronald Loiseau Jr., Gabriella Loiseau and Raphael Loiseau; her siblings, Richard O’Neil, her twin sister, Marie Martha “Yoyotte” Rosenthal, Cocotte O’Neil and Afred “Fredo” O’Neil; her nieces and nephews, The Rosenthals: Adolf, Walter, Pascal and Jhonnie, and The O’Neils: Yanick, Sandra, Kevin and Valerie; her son-in-law, Lawrence Epps Jr.; her daughter-in-law, Pamela Loiseau; and lastly, devoted cousins, dear friends and wonderful neighbors: Marlene, Danny, Elida, Rita, Lawrence Epps Sr., Laurie Epps, Mirna, The Kintz and The Millers.

Tributes

Marie Denise Loiseau

July 7, 1933 - December 20, 2011