Jacqueline Anne Edeline Benoît, age 80 years, of Raritan Township, NJ, died peacefully on Thursday, October 25, 2018 at home, surrounded by her loving family and under the caring watch of Hunterdon Hospice.

Born on July 31, 1938 in Pétion-Ville, Haïti, daughter of the late René and Georgette Blanchard Edeline, she had resided in Raritan Township for the past two years. She and her loving husband, Ambassador Pierre François Benoît, also kept a residence in Pétion-Ville, Haïti.

Emigrating to New York City, NY in 1963, she had formerly lived in Saline, MI and Washington, D.C.

“Jacquie,” as she was referred to by family and friends, lived a life of love and leadership which will not soon be forgotten.

Born into a loving and caring family, Jacquie met a young man named Pierre François and the two captured each others hearts. Married in Sacré-Cœur Church in Port-au-Prince, Haïti on December 15, 1960, the two would have celebrated fifty-eight years of marriage in a few weeks.

They credit their longevity to the fact of a promise they made to each other many years ago: to never keep anything in. To always rise above whatever they faced which would attempt to bring them down, and to always, always, do good in the face of evil.

Jacquie was a true matriarch, not only to her family, but also to her country of Haïti. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend to all.

She was the person who always planted seeds of hope in everything she did. She spent her life lifting people up, and despite the tragedy she experienced, nevertheless always searched for the good in people.

Children were her weakness, and she always found ways to help them along with their families. She started her career in Haïti as a Kindergarten teacher, taught English to many in Haiti, in an effort to help them expand their horizons. She did the same in the United States, always fighting for the underdog.

In Haïti, Jacquie and François created the “Jardins Hydroponiques d’Haïti” for the purpose of teaching peasant children and even university students how to grow food in water.

Her life legacy needed to begin with the story of her being a matriarch and also being an eternal optimist, because one needs to understand her philosophy of life as it shaped her ability to handle the many tragic circumstances that she encountered on the winding road of life.

Her husband, very involved in Haiti’s political well-being and always fighting for the people, made an enemy in the ruling dictator known to many as “Papa Doc” Duvalier. In 1963 and 1964, Duvalier’s death squads went out in broad daylight and attempted to murder the entirety of the Benoît, Edeline, and several other families perceived to be supportive of the opposition.

Known as the infamous “Duvalier Massacres,” they were horrific in nature and the majority of both families were murdered, including Jacquie and Pierre’s infant son, Gérald. The two managed to escape prior and were kept safe in the underground and survived several assassination attempts in the years after.

Following the downfall of the Duvalier regime, many in exile, including Jacquie and Pierre François, were able to exert more public influence in helping Haiti grow and prosper. Pierre François, well respected by all sides, became Haiti’s Ambassador to the United States, and Permanent Representative of Haïti to the Organization of American States, then successively Minister of Foreign Affairs, member of the 2004 Electoral Council, General Manager of the first Internet Provider Company in Haïti, President of the Commission to reform Haïti’s Armed Forces and more recently President of the Commission created to evaluate and verify the results of the 2015 presidential elections.

He is the first to say that all the successes in his life have been because of Jacquie’s wise counsel, unwavering support and pure heart of love.

From this story of heartache and love, what Jacquie would want anyone reading this to take is that ‘resilience’ is an amazing and wonderful characteristic of the Haïtian people. Never forgetting that all people have value and deserve love and respect is not just something Jacquie believed in; she fought for it almost her entire life.

She would also want those reading this to remember that love never fails and is best summed up in a poem by Frieda Feldman, “Love has no season; It comes in the night of winter; In the mid-day summer sun; It has no reason to be born; But I have never known it to be wasted. Seasons change, and so, love’s form.”

Surviving are her husband, Ambassador Pierre Francois Benoît; her children, Randolph and his wife, Cheryl Benoît and Francoise Benoît Betters; her grandchildren, Jasmine Lewis, Byonca Lewis, Kelsey Benoît, and François Josef Benoît; her brothers, Claude and his wife, Josselyne Edeline, Georges and his wife, Charlene Edeline, Edouard Edeline; her sister, Guerda and her husband, Charles Harris; her brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Claude-Michel and Marie Gisèle Benoît; numerous extended family members; many dear friends; and her beloved people of Haïti.

In the United States, life celebration services and cremation with the immediate family are private under the care and direction of Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 38 State Highway 31, Flemington, NJ.

A Mass of Christian Burial will take place December 1, 2018 at the Saint-Pierre Church in Pétion-Ville, Haïti, followed by inurnment.

Please visit Jacqueline’s permanent memorial site at www.wrightfamily.com where one can light a candle and leave a message of condolence and words of comfort, as well as share stories and photographs of her life.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Jacquie’s name to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

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Wright & Ford, your local, family owned and operated “Life Celebration Home”