Ghislaine Rivers

1931 - 2019

Ghislaine Tessier Rivers (Jessie) Dec. 17 1931-Nov. 8 2019 Ghislaine (Jessie) Rivers a longtime Glen Burnie resident and also Chester Md. passed on from us on Nov. 8 2019 from complications of heart failure. Jessie was the first of ten children born to Aurore and Edouard Tessier, who baked and delivered bread throughout their Quebec farming community. A child of depression, Jessie's parents stretched their earnings to meet the needs of their large family. Jessie left home at the age of 15 to work in Quebec City as a governess and companion to the young daughter of a wealthy family. Jessie demonstrated unusual courage and independence in overcoming her homesickness to thrive in her new surroundings.Within three years, she left to live independently in Montreal, where she worked as a clerk and office assistant in her early 20's. During her frequent visits to her family she came to meet her husband to be Robert Andrew Rivers, an American raised by his aunt and uncle in her hometown. Jessie and Robert moved to the United States after marriage in 1955, and raised three children in suburban Maryland, where she continued to live for many years after Robert predeceased her in January of 1989. Throughout her lifetime, Jessie earned the admiration of neighbors and family and friends for her sunny outlook and French charm. Even during the final year of her life, which she spent in the loving care of her youngest child Erik and his family, she won the affection of all the nurses and caregivers who tended to her. Jessie is survived by her daughter Susan (Hedi) and sons Mark (Guylaine) and Erik (Kathy) as well as 12 grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, seven siblings, and legions of friends. After a Dec. 10 funeral Mass at St. Andrews by the bay in Annapolis, Jessie will be interred beside her husband, Robert, at the Crownsville veterans Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial donations be made in her name to the Little Sisters of the Poor.