obituary

[Jean Charles]

 An obituary for Marie Therese Mith lovely called Mammy Têtê

By Jean Hervé Charles,

It seems everybody is affixing their connection to Marline to justify some name recognition. I am the former husband of Marline that may validate my name recognition. I remember Mammy Têt , as one of those grande dame that in my anthropological research came only in the corridor Jacmel-Leogane of Haiti where the Indians took refuge from extermination. The reason is simple; they have in their ethos the Taino blood that was pass on from generations to generations.

Mammy Têtê was close to her church, loving to her children and her grandchildren, generous to her friends and her family and devoted to her husband. I remember an anecdote she told me on the passing of her husband after a long sickness. She asked God to let him live a little longer so she can have the pleasure of caring for him while seek. That is the perfect wife.

When I wanted to enter into the family, she used due diligence to find out who I was, being from the north of Haiti. She found out that my father was a good friend of Paul Magloire the former President of Haiti. And that was enough for me to be accepted into the family.

And what a ride it was, family dinner was like in my home during Paul Magloire time. Haiti in its glorious era. Lot of laughter under the supervision of the elder. Lesson of protocol done with finesse, celebration of all the birthdays.

Mammy Têtê was what Aristotle coined: a sumum bonum. Meaning a person better than all of us. The way to recognize a summum bonum person is she is the best friend of each one of you in this room with the understanding you are the only one she held in such esteem.

Mammy Têtê has groomed her children and her grandchildren with those values. As we celebrate her passing lets, we develop that capacity to love and to value what is essential. After all, building a good nation requires good people like Mammy tete to instill in the young the love of God, our nation and our fellow human beings. May all the children and the grand children in particular my daughter Tiffany continues the legacy of Mammy tete: une grande dame for her fellow human beings.