Benoit Pierre, age 91, of North Babylon, New York passed away on Tuesday, January 31, 2023. Beloved husband of Shirley. Loving father of Vincent, Francis, Frances, Deborah, Barbara, Carol, Angela, Sonia
and Heather and father-in-law of Joan, Marcella and Bryan. Adoring grandfather of Lisa, Nkrumah, Zalika, Garvin, Darren, Aubrey, Bryon, Ryon, Ciara, Nikira, Sasha, Sabrina, Shana, Robert, Sophia and Neal and grandfather-in-law of Kara and Victoria. Cherished great grandfather of Rayven, Roman, Elijah, Aria, Olivia, Lianna, Logan, Selyus, Amari, Chase and Milan. Dear brother of Pat, Bridget and Daniel. He will be missed by his nieces and nephews.
Benoit was very devoted to St. Jude and St. Therese the Little Flower. He was loving, hardworking, family centered, courageous and overcame great obstacles.
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Good Evening Family & Friends, Thank you all for joining us to celebrate Dad’s life…
Losing Dad is one of the most difficult things I personally, have experienced. However, I realize how fortunate my siblings and I are to have had him as our father. It is because of his influence in my life that I’ve learned to be the husband, father and grandfather I am today. Dad/Pa (as his Grand Children and Great Grand Children so fondly call him), was a great man, a strong man and a fighter… He was a man of God A faithful and loving Husband to our Sweet Mom & Gran Gran A devoted Dad An amazing Grand Dad and Great Grand Dad A man of principles and great pride A man of purpose and conviction A man of great discipline A man of integrity and moderation Dad was truly a man of all men, who made great sacrifices for his family at all costs.
Dad was born in Dominica, November 12, 1931 to his Mom Winnifred and Dad, Benson Pierre and had five siblings, three of whom are still with us… Uncle Pat, Aunty Bridget and Uncle Dan… As a boy, Dad enjoyed going to his father’s estate to look at the animals, especially the horses. Dad always joked and told us stories about a horse named Thunder that would kick up its front legs if anyone tried to ride him.
Dad attended the Dominica Grammar School and St. Mary’s Academy, where he excelled in all areas… He admired his headmaster, Mr. Archer because he was strict and a disciplinarian and was well respected by the students and school as a whole. Dad was also a disciplinarian in every aspect of life. It was due to this admiration that he decided my middle name would be Archer. After graduating, Dad worked with the Dominica government. It was during these early years while delivering a message to my Grandmother, Mom’s Mother, Dad caught a glimpse of our beautiful Mom and he said instantly, he knew this was the lady of his dreams… After dating Mom for some time, they got married on April 15, 1956. Dad, along with Mom always found great humor in telling us this story of their wedding day. The photographer took several pictures, only to find out at the end, there was no film in his camera… This year would have been Mom & Dad’s 67th Wedding Anniversary. This is truly amazing!
2 My brother, Vincent, was the first sibling to be born. Then there was me, followed by my seven sisters… Fran, Debbie, Carol, Barbara, Angie, Sonia and Heather. I will give a good example of the kind of man Dad was… In 1963, there was a very large fire about two blocks from where we lived. Dad observed the progress of the fire and when he thought it seemed like the fire was out of control, he decided to
evacuate the entire family and had Mom guide us all to the car. He collected all his important documents, placed them in the car and all alone, he loaded his favorite mahogany furniture on the top of the car and secured them… He took a role call, as this was customary to be the final step before he drove off… He proceeded to drive us to his parent’s house to ensure his family was out of harm’s way. Only to find out later, Dad was the only person on the entire block to evacuate his family. He was an extremely cautious person and took absolutely no chances where his family was concerned. Dad continued working with the Government and worked up his way to the ministry of finance… After excelling in his department, in 1970, he was sent by the government to attend a series of courses at the Census Bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce and Statistics in Washington D.C. He always said his experience there was a great one. In 1975, he attended the University of St. Augustine, Trinidad and completed courses in finance Management, Mathematics, Behavioral Sciences and Public Administration. In 1976, Dad pursued a Law Degree at the University of Cave Hill, Barbados. He was driven and was determined to provide the best he could for his family. In 1979, Dad made the biggest sacrifice of his entire life… In spite of his well-established job, great love of his country, the lovely home he had built from the ground up and the life he made there with our Mom and us, he decided to migrate with Mom and my seven sisters to the United States, to ensure that all had the best chance of succeeding in life. At this time, my brother Vincent and I were already in the United Kingdom continuing our education. With full cooperation and the incredible perseverance of our Amazing Mom, they made this bold move that seemed impossible to others and made it work As the years went by, the Grand Kids came into the picture and both Mom and Dad played a great part in nurturing and enjoying them. He enjoyed watching wrestling on TV with his Grandsons… He would pretend wrestling with the boys and one of his signature moves was to pull their big toes while tapping on the floor and counting until they surrendered. Dad so proudly admitted with a spark in his eyes, and I quote… “The Grands have brought me Great Joy”. There are 16 Grands and
11 Great-Grands! In 1989, both Mom & Dad retired and moved back to Dominica, the Island Dad simply loved from the bottom of his heart, where they enjoyed both their home in the town and country-side every day to the fullest. After 15 years, they made the decision to move back to the US… We continued to celebrate and enjoy every milestone with both Mom and Dad… In conclusion, the love of our Mom’s Life, our Dad, our Pa, was the best of the best! He was our Rock and our Hero, a shining example of a truly God fearing man, who taught us numerous life’s lessons… We pray that his lessons of responsibility,
moral virtues and love, will be engraved in our hearts forever… Lord, we thank you for Dad’s life and all the years we all shared with him. We lift him to you today, in honor of the good we saw in him and the love we felt from him. 3 Please give Mom and the rest of us the strength to leave him in your care, in the knowledge of eternal life through Jesus Christ.
We love you Dad so much and will miss you dearly… We know Dad, your presence will always be with us… God Bless…
Amen.
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