OBITUARY
- Willy Nicolas passed away by Raymond A Joseph
It is with much sadness that we announce the passing of Willy Nicolas, a friend and one of the early photographers for the Haiti-Observateur.
Willy, as we all called him, lived alone in Long Island City, N.Y., and died alone in his apartment. As we write, the cause of death is pending. The results of an autopsy are not known yet. Unknown also, is the exact day of his death. It’s estimated, however, that be must have died about two weeks before neighbors called police, due to a foul smell coming from the apartment.
It was November 25 when the Police forced opened the apartment to find his body in an advanced state of decomposition. Interestingly, on November 25, Willy who was born in 1946, would have turned 73. Peace to his soul!
On this terribly sad occasion, we, at the Haiti-Observateur, present our sincere condolences to his children: Rose-Marie Jean-Charles, living in Miami; Willy A, Nicolas and Patrick A. Nicolas, in New York, and Lisa Nicolas in Haiti. He’s also survived by 14 grand-children and four great grand-children.
Originally from Miragoâne, in the Nippes region of Haiti, Willy Nicolas had been living in New York since 1970. He always wanted to go back to visit the place where his roots are and where he spent his adolescence. The family has decided to take his ashes to his hometown where a ceremony will be held before they’re spread over the ocean he so loved when he was growing up.
We thank Paul Cobanese, also a friend of Willy who, on learning the sad news, called me to alert us of the passing of Willy who, he said, “I know collaborated with the paper and admired a story that you guys did about him when he visited his family in Miami.” Thanks to Paul, we might let you readers, appreciate that page as much as he did in our next issue.
This short story about the passing of a man who had a knack at making friends wouldn’t be complete without what Lola Poisson, my wife, said about him : “If there is only one person outside of Willy’s family who feels sad about the news, it’s me. I’ve been looking for him for so long, that I sort of have come to term with the fact that he may have gone. To find out that he was there all along and that we could have been in contact saddens me more. Such a nice, simple and down to earth soul!”
For any contact with the family, here’s pertinent information: Lisa Nicolas, 803-467-4892; email : lisanicolas620@gmail.com. She’s also available on WhatsApp. Raymond A. Joseph, December 4, 2019
cet article est publié par l’hebdomadaire Haïti-Observateur, édition du 4 décembre 2019, VOL XXXXIX No.47, et se trouve en P.4 àhttp://haiti-observateur.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/H-O-4-december-2019.pdf
