EULOGY ON OUR BELOVED FATHER, BROTHER AND FRIEND: MONIQUE EMMANUEL
RELIGIOUS CELEBRATION AT
MARIGOT ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
THURSDAY MAY 22nd,
2014
A SUMMARY &TESTIMONY ON HIS LIFE
BY HIS DAUGHTERS AND SONS
Delivered by: Léopold
BALY
Greetings in Christ to all of you
gathered here this afternoon for the religious celebration of the
life of our beloved father, brother and friend Monique Emmanuel.
I also wish to express my gratitude to
the children of our deceased brother Monique for their confidence in
granting to me the rewarding privilege to deliver the testimony on
the life of an exceptional man, their father.
Our beloved father, brother and friend,
Monique Emmanuel, peacefully passed on to eternal life in the hands
of his Almighty God, eight days after his 97th birthday,
on Wednesday May 14th, 2014 at 2:40 PM, at his home,
surrounded by seven of his daughters and myself who was paying him a
visit at the time,
Having the privilege some four years
ago to write an autobiography of brother Monique Emmanuel,
concerning his Christian faith, family life a career, I will content
myself with quoting from his own words.
Concerning his Christian faith he
declared:
My mother was Catholic and my father
a Methodist, I was baptized in the Roman Catholic faith, and
remained up to this day a faithful follower, believing in all the
Church's teaching, believing in the Holy Trinity, God the father, God
the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
I raised up all my children in the
same Catholic faith, teaching them how to pray and the right way to
know God's love and also how to ask for his protection. In all their
doing, I told them to put their faith, trust and belief in God
I have so much to thank God the
Almighty for, most of all my good health.
I also thank God for granting me the
privilege to be enjoying my old age in the happiness of my family
home circle in the precious, loving and caring hands of my
daughters and sons
He
continued: Never cease in asking God for his protection and
guidance, without his light present in your life you cannot feel
safe. When you put your trust in Him, He will keep you safe from all
danger.
Search for God and you will find
Him, trust Him, he will not fail you.
Today his daughters and sons testify on
how he will always remind them to never cease praying and to always
end their prayer with the words: “Lord hear my prayer”
His daily prayers were the 23rd
Psalm “The Lord Is my shepherd I shall not want” and the
Lord's prayer
His favorite hymn was “What a
friend we have in Jesus”
Concerning his
family life and career he declared:
I was born on May 6th,
1917, in St-Martin. Son of ROUMOU Marie Magdeleine and EMMANUEL
Abraham
My father died when I was five years
of age. I was raised by my mother and my aunt Leontine Roumou.
From the age of 8 years, I already
started to work like a man, as a field worker and milk boy on the
Spring estate, owned by Mme Marie Leydet, the last French European
plantation owner in St-Martin.
Every morning I had to deliver the milk to all of her customers in Marigot. My aunt Leontine also worked for Madame Ledee.
Every morning I had to deliver the milk to all of her customers in Marigot. My aunt Leontine also worked for Madame Ledee.
At the age of ten to twelve I was
managing the Spring Estate for Mme Marie Leydet, responsible to
oversee the rearing and milking of the cattle.
After Mme Leydet died, her son came
to St-Martin and sold the Estate to Mme Yvette Fleming. I decided to
quit the Estate to learn a better trade.
I started first training to be a
carpenter, I found that too slow so I switch over to training to be a
tailor.
At the age of fourteen I was already
a self-employed tailor.
I can also remember in my young age
sailing through the lagoon every monday morning going to Cole Bay to
meet Mr. BELL and get a day's work with him on his root crops and
vegetable plantation at Simpson Bay, in the area now transformed into
Juliana Airport.
In 1937, at the age of 20, I
married Francoise Elisabeth FITALY a native of Gourbeyre/Guadeloupe
who blessed me with14 wonderful children, eleven that are today
alive Julia, Cecile, Louisa, Rosette, Anselme known as Scello, Ste
Flora, Monique, Marie, Angele, Hubert and Rodophe. The3 others
Paulette, Francois and Alexandre are already enjoying eternal life
with their Lord.
In 1939, I was recruited by the
French army in view of the 1939-45 second world's war and send to
Basse- Terre/Guadeloupe on a battleship, “Le Barfleur”.
But I was not send to the battle
field in France because shortly after the official French
Government, known as the Vichy Government, had abdicated to the
German's occupation of France putting an end to the official
hostility against the enemy.
So after one year service in Basse
Terre Guadeloupe, I was discharged and returned to St-Martin.
After my return to Saint-Martin,
unlike the belief in those days that the future was to be able
emigrate from St-Martin to Aruba, Curacao or to the united States of
America, I decided to make myself a man with a future right here in
my own country.
I took up training to be a
photographer and established myself as a self-employed tailor and
photographer, and later around 1950, I get involved in the retail
market businesss and in addition I started to fabricate and sell
construction and decorative blocks.
In 1959 I was elected deputy-mayor
on Dr Petit Hubert list and was attributed the Sports and festivity
portfolio jointly with Simon Jeffry.
In 1961 I obtained my driven license
but it is only in 1969 that I obtained a Taxi operator's license,
because up to 1969, French
residents had to apply to the Dutch St-Maarten Administration to
obtain a Taxi license.
The
French administration was reluctant to organized the taxi trade on
the French side,
With
Juliana Airport, becoming an international airport open to large
intercontinental flights , taxi trade had become a very coveted
profession and the number of taxi drivers on the island was growing
tremendously, for this reason I become conscious of the necessity to
organize the profession on the French Side of the island.
So in 1969, I took the initiative to organize the
profession on the French side by creating the first FrenchTaxi
Driver's Union of which I had the privilege to remain the president
from its creation in September 1969 up to the time of my
retirement from the taxi trade in 1997.
It's through my persuasion and voluntary work that
from 1969 the French State's Administration (Sous-Prefecture) finally
decided to start to deliver taxi driver's license on the French side.
After 62 years of a happy marriage life, on December
2nd, 1999 my wife died at the age of 82. After the death
of my beloved wife Elizabeth, I have chosen to remain faithful to her
memory, I remained single but living a very happy life in my home,
surrounded by the most loving and faithful children one can ever
think of.
That was Monique in his own words
Monique
also had the great desire to draw up his ancestral family tree that
he wanted to leave as a stone mark for his children and
grandchildren. It is from his family tree, that I was pleasantly
surprised to learn that we were family because his grand mother on
his mother side Euphemie Onesine, was a BALY by father and a WHIT by
mother.
During
his life time, Monique has received many awards for his invaluable
contribution to his community
On May 29th, 1964, Monique received from the
Municipality of St-Martin with congratulation from the Mayor Dr.
Hubert Petit, the Decoration medal for large family
In 1995, Monique was honored by a Municipality decision
to name after him the Taxi Drivers Stand on Marigot Water Front
On
March 23rd,
2000, Monique was honored by the French Tourism Office for his
outstanding contribution in the tourist industry
On
October 28th,
2000 he received from Mr. Jean Luc Hamlet, president of Associatiom
“Demain Saint-Martin” the prize of excellence in recognition of
his contribution to the promotion of the island.
In
may 2001, At the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) 50th
anniversary meeting held at the Waldorf Astoria New York , Monique
was present to received the Grand distinguished National Award medal
from the (C.T.O.) Committee
On
the 27th
of september 2001, on commemoration of World Tourism Day held at the
Great Bay Beach Hotel. he was presented with a Tourism Lifetime
Achievement Award by Tourism Commissioner Theo Heyliger
On April 6th, 2008 Monique received through
the hands of Father Samson DORIVAL on behalf of the Diocese of
Guadeloupe, Parish of Saint-Martin de Tours, the Testimonial and
Acknowledgement Certificate in acknowledgement of his exceptional
support and devotedness to the Church.
On
December 18th,
2009, he was honored by Saint-Martin United Taxi Association (SMUTA)
with a certificate of acknowledgement for his good and faithful
service as being the ambassador and architect of the Taxi Trade
organization on the island of Saint-Martin
Testimony:
All of us gathered here this afternoon
acknowledge that we will surely miss our beloved father, brother and
friend, Monique and will bear for ever in our memory the graceful and
gracious manner he has always given proof of and shared with all of
us through his life time, in the good times and in the bad times,
Our brother Monique during his life
time never mist out on an opportunity to share his love and unfailing
faith in his Almighty God, with everyone he encountered with,
This afternoon, as we pay tribute to
our brother in Christ, Monique, in the midst of our sorrow and grief,
we have the profound and very comforting assurance that today it is
not about his death, but on the contrary of his henceforth
everlasting life in the house of his Almighty God, the God he had
feared and made himself unceasingly available to serve during his
existence here on earth.
Our sorrow and grief this
afternoon may be normal because of our human nature, but in regards
to our spiritual existence, the right thing to do in a moment like
this is to be rejoicing in the celebration of our brother's victory
over death and of his new life in the company of his redeemer
Our Brother Monique has lived a life
in God's grace through his unfailing faith in his redeemer.
And because God can never fail in his
promise, we have the assurance that today only his physical body has
come to an end.
Liberated from his failing
flesh, his soul united with God's spirit blown into him ever since
creation, lives anew, henceforth in his new living spiritual body
unlimited in time and in space, destined to enjoy eternal heavenly
life in the place Jesus Christ his savior and redeemer has prepared
long time ago for him.
Personally, for the last 37 years since
my return to St-Martin, I have considered Monique to be the messenger
appointed by God to save my life.
In many life saving
circumstances, too long a story to mention here, Monique has proven
to me the meaning of the saying: “ A friend in times of need is
a friend indeed”
To
conclude,
Monique Emmanuel in his autobiography, relates his life with a great sense of pride and satisfaction, as a man who has fully accomplished his mission here on earth. He reminds us of God's apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4: 7 “ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness.....”
Sail on Monique, sail on to the land
of the true, where we live anew and will never grow old
And as you have taught your children to
say when they pray: Lord here our prayer
