Charmaine Pierre Oden Dies September 7

Charmaine Jeanette Pierre Oden died September 7, 2019, in Sag Harbor. She was 91.

She was born February 29, 1928, in New York City to Frances “Fannye” Augusta Moore and Leon Albert Pierre (Dejoie). Her father, an immigrant from Cap Haitian, Haiti, worked as a furrier and her mother was a talented seamstress. Together, they owned Maison Pierre on Harlem’s 7th Avenue. Her mother would go on to own and operate The Dawn Bar and Lounge, a part of a broader family business with Charmaine’s uncle Charles “Charlie” Julian Moore, who was like a second father to Ms. Oden.

The oldest of two children born of the marriage, she and her brother, Leon Julian Pierre, were raised in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Manhattan, where their family lived together with maternal grandparents Jane Isabel (née Francisco) Moore of Georgetown, British Guiana (now Guyana) and Henry Hamilton Moore of San Fernando, Trinidad. Ms. Oden was extremely close to her grandmother, whom she affectionately called “Ba.”

As a child, Ms. Oden attended New York City public schools. She graduated from George Washington High School in Washington Heights at the age of 16, before attending New York University where she received a degree in recreation studies.

At age 19, she married Albert Henriques, whom she grew to know while working as a counselor in upstate New York. The couple had two children, Susan Jane and Judith Amy, and resided in the Springfield Gardens neighborhood of Queens until their divorce. In addition to raising her two daughters, Ms. Oden served as a truant officer for the New York City Department of Education during that time.

In 1957, she married Edwin “Eddie” Moore Oden, an industrial microbiologist from Canton, Mississippi, who fell in love with her and her children. They subsequently moved to Teaneck, New Jersey, where Mr. Oden worked for Schering-Plough (now Merck & Co.) and Ms. Oden conducted parenting classes and supported local civic initiatives across Bergen County. They would later move to Englewood and West New York, New Jersey, where they built a rich community of friends.

Together, they traveled the world, visiting countries including the Netherlands, the USSR, Scandinavia, China, France and Mali. They also spent a significant amount of time in Los Boliches on the Costa del Sol, outside of the city of Málaga in Spain, and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. As an evening ritual, they closed each day with a classic cocktail — a dry martini with a stuffed olive — and conversation. It was the hallmark of their marriage and a practice Ms. Oden continued even after his death in 2008.

A talented, self-taught artist, she enjoyed drawing, painting and sculpting. Her work ranged from nuanced realism to abstract art, across mediums. A lifelong creative, she also prided herself on her eye for interior design and unique sense of style, sometimes referencing her brief time as a runway model for fur coats. Her bold stylistic choices complemented her can-do attitude, and her sharp tongue matched her quick wit. The New York Times crossword puzzle was no match for her mind. She proudly completed it in ink, each week.

Ms Oden is survived by her daughters, Susan J. Henriques-Payne (J. H. Michael) and Judith A. Henriques-Adams (Robert); nephews, Andre “Andy” Pierre (Joy) and Noel Pierre; grandchildren, Dylan Mikkel Page and Sydney M. Henriques-Payne; and many friends. She also leaves behind her cat, “Kitty Cat.”