BY WALTER ELLIOTT
IRVINGTON – Relatives, friends, colleagues, neighbors and dignitaries paid respects to Marie Charite Orelien in massive force here at Irvington Center Oct. 25.
Orelien’s remains had just been transferred from the New Jerusalem Baptist Church into a horse drawn hearse supplied by the Island Memorial Funeral Home at 12:20 p.m. that Friday. Following her casket was a capacity crowd of mourners, many of whom walked to their cars parked on neighboring streets and parking lots.
Irvington police officers, who had earlier closed two blocks of Nye Avenue and detouring NJTransit’s No. 94 route’s northbound buses, closed Springfield Avenue between Beasley Civic Square and Stuyvesant Avenue while the funeral procession assembled.
Traffic – including buses on the Nos. 21, 26, 70 and 94 routes, were held for about 20 minutes while mourning motorists headed west on the avenue. Most of the 84 cars “Local Talk” counted followed Orelien’s last physical trip to Union’s Hollywood Memorial Park.
Some mourners turned left onto the seemingly more direct route of Stuyvesant Avenue. They were delayed by traffic volume south to Mill Street instead. Six clerics – Bishop Louis A. Metellus and pastors Stevens Charles, Joseph Tancrel Diegue, Jean Maurice, Kenislo Ojentis and Joseph Thelusca – presided over her service.
Proclamations for Orelien were presented from U.S. Senator Helmy, State Senator Renee Burgess, Irvington Council President Jamillah Z. Beasley and mayors Anthony Vauss (Irvington) Dwayne Warren (Orange) and Derek Armstead (Linden).
Irvington Councilwoman – and Orelien’s daughter – Dr. Charnette Frederic was among the mourners. The at-large representative and former council president was far from alone among the mourners.
Marie C. Orelien, 74, who died here Oct. 13, was described as “a woman of profound love and unwavering strength.” The family matriarch and husband Joseph Orelien had emigrated from Haiti to raise twin sons Joseph Ricarto and Joseph Bricarto Orelien as well as daughter Charnette.
Born July 12, 1950 in Cazal, Haiti, Marie Charite married Joseph Orelien in January 1976. Husband Joseph, in search of a better life, came to Irvington by way of French Guiana. Marie rejoined Charles here in 1996, when her three children, in her obituary, “would come to know here not just as a mother but as a constant source of love, care and guidance.”
She instilled in her children “The importance of independence as well as the necessity of helping the less fortunate with respect and dignity.”
Son Ricarto became a computer science engineer “with a heart for helping others, particularly with Humanitarian Parole.” Twin Bricarto became a financial broker and a “devoted family man of faith and integrity.”
Grandsons Nathan Orelien and Ben Fredric, granddaughters Brianna, Keira and Bella Orelien, brother Luc Fleury, sisters Annicie, Lucette and Andremene Fleury are among her survivors.
“Charnite was a beacon of light in her community. Her kindness, faith and generosity of spirit touched countless lives. Her memory will continue to inspire those who had the privilege of knowing her.”
