Rev. Bernard Carlton Poitier Sr., a man friends and family say possessed a heart of gold, was given a homegoing ceremony fit for a prince last Friday.<\/p>\n
For decades, the founder and former proprietor of the Poitier Funeral Home devoted time, energy and even money to the beloved communities in Miami he cared so much about.<\/p>\n
His years of service did not go unnoticed, as hundreds of people gathered at New Birth Baptist Church in Opa-locka to honor his legacy and celebrate a life many say was well lived.<\/p>\n
A procession of brothers from the Freemasonry Grand Lodge performed last rites for their departed brother while walking to the tune of Bernice Johnson Reagon\u2019s \u201cWe Are Climbing Jacob\u2019s Ladder.\u201d The intimate ceremony was themed in colors representing Poitier\u2019s Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.<\/p>\n
Born in 1937, the Miami native and nephew of Bahamian actor Sidney Poitier was one of Cyril and Albertha Poitier\u2019s 10 children. A product of the Miami-Dade Public School system, it was only fitting for him to begin his career as an M-DCPS educator at Charles R. Drew Middle School after receiving his Bachelor of Science degree from Bethune-Cookman University, formerly Bethune-Cookman College.<\/p>\n
Poitier\u2019s educational journey at the Atlanta School of Mortuary Science and Miami-Dade College led him on a path to the funeral service business. He became a licensed embalmer and funeral director more than 50 years ago.<\/p>\n
That was where Poitier left his legacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad was probably the best at what he did,\u201d said Valencia N. Poitier Esq., one of Poitier\u2019s five children. \u201cThere were a lot of newcomers in the industry who looked up to him, saw him as a mentor and admired his work ethic. He would work late into the night if he needed to. His whole thing was \u2018You don\u2019t sleep until the job is done and until it is done right.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
One of Poitier\u2019s most notable acts was offering pro bono burial services and discounted rates for families who experienced financial difficulties. When the quest of more than a dozen Haitian migrants attempting to seek U.S. asylum ended in tragedy, Poitier offered to conduct the memorial services for their families free of charge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure how rare this was in the funeral industry but for him, it was extremely common to do something like that,\u201d said Valencia Poitier. \u201cPart of his willingness to serve the community meant that he would do what people coming through the doors needed him to do. It wasn\u2019t about the money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t just love his own family or kids but he loved and tried his best to do for anybody that needed,\u201d added Poitier\u2019s son. \u201cHe never turned anyone down whenever he had an opportunity to help. It wasn\u2019t about being a man in business, he was a man that achieved his goal and used it to give back to the community. He was my hero.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taylor recalls sitting in a chapel boxing up dresses his father bought to distribute to little girls in the community. He also bought suits for young boys.<\/p>\n
At Thanksgiving time, truckloads of food, paid for by Poitier and his wife, Barbara, would make their way to families in need. Around Christmas, Valencia Poitier would be tasked with picking out the best toys for donation. The holiday giveaway tradition continued until she went off to college.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe worked together to get into good trouble,\u201d said Valencia Poitier during her remarks at the funeral, explaining how her father encouraged her to adopt some of his invaluable traits.<\/p>\n
His contributions, though, didn\u2019t stop there. He shared his livelihood with everyone.<\/p>\n
On several occasions, Poitier would help put students through his alma mater, whether it was assisting with their tuition or the college application process, expecting nothing in return. Sometimes he would donate money for children to get their hair done.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were times where someone would call him to say that their house was going into foreclosure, and he would drop everything to meet them at the bank,\u201d said Valencia Poitier. \u201cHe gave without measure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poitier\u2019s willingness to extend a helping hand to those in need is largely the result of his faith. He was an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and founder of the St. Luke Cousin Memorial AME Church in Miami. Despite retiring from ministry, he continued to spread messages of hope and encouragement to those around him.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of my success ties to the support and encouragement that Mr. Poitier gave [me] back then,\u201d said District 109 Rep. James Bush III, who credits Poitier for helping him get elected into office 14 years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved Mr. Poitier and it\u2019s just so unfortunate that (with) all of the naming of streets and buildings after so many people \u2013 not that I\u2019m taking away from those who earned it \u2013 that here in our county, there\u2019s nothing named after [him],\u201d Bush lamented.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing about Bernard Poitier, if he didn\u2019t sow into your life one way, he sowed into your life another,\u201d said Pastor Bobby Brown, a relative of Poitier\u2019s, at the service. \u201cWe have lost a great man, in this city, in the funeral industry and in life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though the Poitier Funeral Home was taken over almost a decade ago , Poitier continued to touch the lives of people he came across while working at another funeral home \u2014 Richardson Mortuary. Richardson handled the arrangements for Poitier and laid him to rest at the Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe man,\u201d said Dwight Jackson Sr., funeral director at Richardson Mortuary, \u201cwas an icon in Florida and around the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
POITIER FUNERAL DIRECTOR Rev. Bernard Carlton Poitier Sr., a man friends and family say possessed a heart of gold, was given a homegoing ceremony fit for a prince last Friday. For decades, the founder and former proprietor of the Poitier Funeral Home devoted time, energy and even money to the beloved communities in Miami he Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14183,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1187,133,40,5,1],"tags":[1188],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14181"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14181"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14182,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14181\/revisions\/14182"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}