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Parsley Massacre survivor, 102, who lived in “deep pain,” laid to rest | PHOTOS

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Parsley Massacre survivor, 102, who lived in “deep pain,” laid to rest | PHOTOS
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DOSMONT, Haiti — Elcilie Jean simply could not hold back any longer. As the priest delivered a sermon for her husband Marcellus Jean during his funeral inside the Perpetual Help Church, loud wails burst from the newly widowed woman.

“It hurts,” Elcilie said.

On that Saturday afternoon in September, as she and about 100 people gathered inside the church, Elcilie’s tears opened the floodgates for more tears from family members. Of an advanced age herself, a number she does not know, Elcilie threw herself toward the ground, but two family members held her frail frame. 

“I went through so much with him.”

Marcellus died at age 102, after living for six years with an enlarged prostate. In the four months before his life ended, he had become mute and immobile.

During those arduous months and final years, Elcilie wished she could receive funds overdue to her husband — a survivor of the 1937 Parsley Massacre — from the Dominican Republic or the Haitian government. She needed the money to pay about $113 in medical bills every three months for her husband of 39 years. None ever came.

“He lived through that massacre his whole life, carrying it in his mind like a shadow,” Elcilie said.  “He would tell us about it everyday like the pain was too deep ever to leave him.” 

After returning to Haiti, Marcellus impacted scores of people, including his grandnephew, Uraymond Jean. The younger man sat at the back of the church, with a small bottle of Rhum Barbancourt in his back pocket.

Uraymond lived with Marcellus at times. He recalls how the great uncle often visited him in Paredes, a rural town about 12 miles from Dosmont, riding his horse with oranges as gifts.

“He didn’t let us peel the oranges ourselves,” Uraymond, 36, said. “He used to say ‘I’m your great uncle, if I’m going to give you something I have to peel it for you.” 

Family members of Elcilie Jean, center, lend support to the widow during the funeral service for her husband Marcellus Jean at the Perpetual Help Church in Dosmont, Haiti, on September 14, 2024. Photo
by Onz Chery/ The Haitian Times
A woman leans her head into her palm as she grieves during the funeral service for Marcellus Jean. Photo by Onz Chery/ The Haitian Times
A mourner takes a picture of Marcellus Jean in his coffin before the start of the funeral service. Jean was known as Ti Kòk, Creole for Little Rooster. Jean earned that nickname because he was a tireless worker. Photo by Onz Chery/ The Haitian Times
Funeral mass attendees listen to a priest’s short sermon for Marcellus Jean at the Perpetual Help Church in Dosmont. The priest highlighted that Marcellus Jean was a survivor of the Parsley Massacre who fled the Dominican Republic at age 15, barely escaping the massacre that claimed more than 20,000 lives. Photo by Onz Chery/ The Haitian Times
A mourner weeps during Marcellus Jean’s funeral service at the Perpetual Help Church in Dosmont on September 14, 2024. Photo by Onz Chery/The Haitian Times

A mourner wears a T-shirt that says “rest in peace” in French. Photo by Onz Chery/ The Haitian Times
After the funeral service, a fanfare band played somber music near the Perpetual Help Church. The fanfare band was waiting for more mourners to exit the church to lead the procession. Photo by Onz Chery/ The Haitian Times

A trombone player during Marcellus Jean’s funeral procession. Photo by Onz Chery/ The Haitian Times
Pallbearers of Marcellus Jean en route to the Dosmont Cemetery lead the funeral procession on September 14, 2024. Photo by Onz Chery/The Haitian Times
A pallbearer helps carry the coffin of Marcellus Jean as mourners head toward the D’Osmond Cemetery. Photo by Onz Chery/ The Haitian Times
Two mourners hold on to one another as they walk side by side toward the Dosmont Cemetery. Photo by Onz Chery/ The Haitian Times
A traditional fanfare band leading the funeral procession at the Dosmont Cemetery. The sound of weeping and wailing often mixed with the music as mourners lamented that Marcellus Jean was no longer with them. Photo by Onz Chery/ The Haitian Times
Mourners standing at the graveside look at Marcellus Jean one last time before his internment. Photo by Onz Chery/ The Haitian Times
Pallbearers lay Marcellus Jean in his final resting place at the Dosmont Cemetery on September 14, 2024. Photo by Onz Chery/ The Haitian Times

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Parsley Massacre survivor, 102, who lived in “deep pain,” laid to rest | PHOTOS was first posted on October 8, 2024 at 8:00 am.

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