Johanna Marie Messier

Born on March 22, 1930, in Brooklyn, New York, as Joan Marie Pitre, she was a proud Italian-American who enjoyed growing up amid a large extended family. Her mother Beatrice (Bonora) Pitre, was a talented seamstress, and her father, Michael Pitre, was a steelworker and caterer among other jobs.

She graduated from Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn and later spent a year at the State Teachers College at New Paltz, New York. In her 20s, she worked as a secretary at NBC and enjoyed casually performing as a singer at New York City jazz clubs. A lover of fine fashion, she enjoyed dressing elegantly on these occasions and throughout her life.

She met her future husband, Michel Messier, in Rome, Italy, while she was traveling in Europe in the early 1960s. He was also American, and the couple returned to the United States, where they were married in January of 1964 in Hempstead, New York. They had a son, Guy-Michel Messier, who was born in Rhode Island in January of 1965. The couple then moved to Rome, where Michel Messier was managing a family textile business.

The couple divorced in 1972, and Johanna Messier returned to the States with her son Guy. After a brief stint in Texas, she settled in Fairfax City, Virginia, where she worked as a secretary for a number of different businesses before landing at the Boeing Company. Over the years, she climbed the ranks to become a manager at Boeing Computer Services, where she worked on manuals for various government clients. She retired from Boeing in her late 60s.

She moved to Boston in March 2000 to be closer to her son and his family. She was in the South End until 2023, when she moved to Roslindale for long-term care.

She leaves her son, Guy-Michel; his wife, Mary Owens; two grandchildren, Zoe Rosalie Messier and Alexander Luke Messier, all of Boston; and two nephews, Matthew and Gregory Pitre of Texas. She was predeceased by her brother, Thomas Matthew Pitre.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston on October 25, 2024. A private inurnment will follow at Boston’s Forest Hills Cemetery.