Marcel Pierre

He was born on May 18th, 1933 the eldest son of Marie Champagne and Raphael Pierre in Port-au-Prince, Haiti known as Hispaniola in the Caribbean.

He is survived by his wife, Julia Shakes-Pierre; his four children: Harry Loveur Pierre (the eldest and only son), Maryse Esther Pierre, Margarette Pierre, and Nicole Pierre Reed; and his brother, Gerard Champagne. He was blessed with 19 Grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. His grandchildren are: Prince Pierre, Natalie Pierre Stringfield, Dominique Myrthil, Christian LeBlanc, Nathan LeBlanc, Moise Loveur Pierre, Sammuel Harry Pierre, Nikolas Pierre, Aneesah Pierre, Wali Jones, Hakeem Pierre, Jamil Jones, Faheem Jones, Sheenah Degan, Nadira Pierre, Danielle Lewis, Christopher Lewis, David Lewis, and Matthews Lewis. His great-grandchildren are: Nathan Mrthil, Saniyah Jones, Ahnyeekah Pierre, Anieujha Pierre, Aiden Stringfield, and Bryson Hughes.

God blessed Marcel Pierre with the very special gift of music, and for more than 65 Years he utilized his gift and touched so many lives. He was a legend in the Music Industry and specially starting in Haiti where he played and wrote songs for the top musicians such as Nemours Jean Baptiste, Ensemble Saye, and Webert Sicot a close personal friend to name a few. He was a member of the Haitian Palace musician known as the Caribbean’s White House. He was the favorite among the Elite Class because no one could play the saxophone the way he did. His tone was so different it would take a life time to figure out how he came up with it. He wrote a song that was so popular that they dedicated it to the Duvalier Presidency which caused defection between his Elite friends and the Government who offered him high position to honor his talent. So he had to leave Haiti to save his life from threats. He decided to head to the Nassau Bahamas where he made his name a household as the best saxophone player on the Island. Marcel managed the hotel, restaurant, and a club named “The Pink Pussycat Club” where the tourist never resisted to visit over and over for many decades. He had several records and participated in many more as a guest artist. He was offered a record deal by a Philadelphia record company and countless other opportunities along the way. Marcel moved to the United States in the early 2000 after he traveled to perform with his band Marcel and the Top Cats in Queens, New York proud to have his son as his Manager. He and his wife Julia settled in New Jersey before permanently moving to Palm Bay until he took his last breath.

One thing that he was famous for was every time that someone from Haiti had an immigration issue he would use his contact and influence to help get them out peacefully. He played for Sidney Poitier several times and dignitaries leaving or visiting their summer or vacation home in Nassau.

One thing that most of his close friends find out about him is that he was a serious cook and it’s something that he really enjoyed. He lived by himself as a bachelor so he enjoyed doing his own cooking. He took great care of himself; he had a piece of Aloe every day since he was not aware of any side effects neither did anyone nearest to him.

He was married to Marguerite Turner for many years. He met and remarried his love Julia Shakes and they had one girl Nicole. They had a nice restaurant in Nassau and Marcel played at Paradise Island in the Casino Orchestra. He was a proud member of Club Med there- a very exclusive no entry unless you are a paying member or have special connections type of place.

Marcel was fun to be with and he just loved people. He changed his life and gave it to Christ and was forever a changed man. He played benefits concerts for many occasions and every Saturday if invited he played at a Seventh Day Church and on Sundays he played at his wife’s church, so he pleased both sides equally. He traveled to many places but he enjoyed his retirement days playing table tennis with his wife or bicycling together along the streets of his neighborhood in Palm Bay.

He was blessed to live a long life. A favorite Psalm, Psalm 24 was what got him through his final days. He was proud to state that he gave his life to the Lord and that God is faithful.

May God continue to bless you, always and forever.