On January 8, 1953, Christiane was married to Bertrand Gilles who was from Pestel, Haiti. They resided in Trou Bois which is located in the mountains where they enjoyed nature. Their love for this place was inexplicable. The temperature was very cool and it was a very peaceful place to be. They had a coffee business in place and also they enjoyed growing their own crops, gardening and raising their horses.They had three children who sadly did not survive and instead of allowing tragedy to settle in, Christiane would often travel from Trou Bois to Corail. She would also travel to Port-Au-Prince with her sister Marie Papillon to visit their older sister Carmen Jean Papillon who lived there with her husband Theodore Jean and their four (4) children (Georges, Claude, Bernadette and Ginette).
Through traveling, she became interested in joining her other sister Marie Papillon who left Haiti in the 60’s to work as a Nanny in New York City. Christiane then left Haiti on October 20, 1963. When it came to working, Christiane wore different hats. Her main occupations included caretaking for the elderly, children, catering for weddings and other events. Christiane had a love for fine cuisine. She enjoyed cooking and baking and proudly called herself the “Haitian Cordon Bleu.”
Christiane can be best described as a woman who was light years ahead of her time. She was one of the most giving, open minded, free thinking, stylish, classy, and the wittiest person that one could ever meet. Her love of travel continued as she traveled all over the world (France, Egypt, Italy, Mexico just to name a few). Due to the severe cold weather in New York City after so many years, she suffered with severe arthritis. Her doctor recommended that she moves to a warmer climate. So then, she moved to Miami, Florida in 1977 with her husband and the rest of the family followed.
After many years of work in Miami, her husband decided to move back to Trou Bois in the 80’s. Christiane joined her husband a few years later but she spent most of her time in Corail. Christiane was truly patriotic and loved her country. She believed in seeing Haiti completely rebuilt and thriving in a manner where all Haitians would be fed, educated and safe thus returning it back to what it used to be called “La Perle des Antilles.” She made it her mission to support businesses, schools, hospitals, churches, art and folklore and many other venues in other words, Christiane was a visionary. Often times, her ideas were beyond imagination, but she had so much faith and believed in herself so much that her visions would always come to a reality. She founded an ice factory with her nephew Georges Jean in 2000 which was a very exciting and fulfilling task despite difficult conditions (lack of electricity, poor roads) that exist in such an environment. After a couple of years, due to the lack of demands for the quantity of ice that was being produced, it was not possible to keep the factory running. That same year after St. Pierre festivities (which is celebrated on June 29 in Corail) with the family, her husband passed and this loss changed her life forever.
Christiane continued her mission of traveling from Haiti to Miami and her last trip to Haiti was June 2014. Her brother Jean Papillon became ill and passed in 2015 and unfortunately a year later, her sister Marie Papillon passed as well. Christiane went through some difficult times after the loss of her siblings. She never emotionally recovered because her family was very close knit and each loss left a deep wound. In 2017, she relocated to Davie and this is where her health began to decline with diabetes and heart complications.
Sadly on June 19, 2020, she passed in the comfort of her home.
The light of this most beautiful person will shine through her uncle Marcelin Papillon, all her nephews, nieces, cousins, God-sons and God-daughters, Sister and Brother in-laws, extended family and friends.
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