Gisele Laforest, 82, of Pembroke Pines, Florida died Sunday after a brief illness. She was born to Octave and Odette Martineau, in 1932, in Jeremie, Haiti. Predeceased by her husband Gerard, she is survived by four children: Myrto Andre, of Coral Springs; Marlene Rosenblum, of Metuchen, NJ; Franz, of New York City; and Harold, of CA. She is also survived by 3 sisters, 5 grandchildren and one great granddaughter. Gisele was an industrious, enterprising and resilient woman. She started a clothing business in Jeremie and, in 1965, saved her family from the Duvalier regime, fled briefly to Port-au-Prince, and later found refuge in the US. In her new found country she worked as a seamstress and a ceramicist. Her last years were spent in retirement in Florida. She loved gardening, had a strong faith in God and was an extraordinary cook.
