The Celestin Family originally hails from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Jean B.D. Celestin was a prominent attorney and Rose Marie Celestin was a physician. When they first met, it was love at first sight. After three months of courtship, they got married and went on to raise four children, JC, Jean McGianni, Joanne, and Samuel, in the suburb of Delmas. The Celestins remained a closely-knit, churchgoing family. God, hard work, and humility were the pillars of their household. They set high standards for themselves and taught the children to set goals. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail,” was their family motto.
But it wasn’t all work and no play for the family of six. One of their fondest memories are the summer trips to the beach off the coast of the island. As political tensions caused widespread uncertainty throughout the country, the Celestins immigrated to the United States in search of a safer life. In 1989, they settled in Miami, FL.
Pursuing the American Dream
Despite being faced with a new language and way of life, JC, Jean, Joanne, and Samuel excelled socially and academically. They attended a Haitian-American church in Miami, where they sang in the youth choir and Sammy became a youth leader. They played sports, graduated with honors, and earned academic scholarships to attend college.
Following college, each sibling pursued their respective dreams, giving back in their own way. JC is a real estate investor and developer in New Orleans, LA. A former banking executive, he is currently on the board of Families Helping Families and Chair of the Economic Development Advisory Committee. JC earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Management with a Minor in Computer Information Technology at Tulane University. He completed his MBA at the University of New Orleans and is a longtime member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Jean lives in New York. A longtime tech business advisor, he is on the board of Candle Mountain Charity Inc., a non-profit organization that operates a school in a remote mountain village in Haiti. Jean graduated from Penn State University with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Political Science and a Minor in History. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Joanne is an emergency room nurse practitioner and entrepreneur in Orlando, FL. She graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Registered Nursing from the University of Miami and a Master’s of Science in Family Practice Nursing from the University of Central Florida.
Samuel attended Florida International University where he majored in Business until he was diagnosed with Schizophrenia in 2013. On April 11, 2019, 5 White Police Officers from the Ocoee Police Department and Windermere Police Department killed him during a mental health call for assistance to the hospital. Samuel was 33 years old.