Died at the Cayenne hospital, Joséphine Bourette, alias Fifine, was 84 years old. She had been a switchboard operator in Guyana the 1st since the time when our station was called FR3 then RFO.
Joséphine Bourette was above all « a warm smile that welcomed everyone who passed through the doors of RFO, rue Devèze in Cayenne » remembers Karl Constable, journalist and image reporter.
Joséphine was above all a voice. The one that made the link with the station and the outside world. If you called FR3 Guyana then RFO then Guyana 1erabetween the end of the 80s and the 2000s, before the advent of cell phones, you may have had the opportunity to chat with her. « Almost everything went through the standard recalls Claude Innocent, former journalist. It allowed us to do a lot of reporting. »
Joséphine also made her voice resonate within the walls of the station. At the time, offices were equipped with an interior loudspeaker system. « Like in a train station or an airport, explains Karl Constable. More than once she triggered fits of laughter by making mistakes in her announcements or she launched the ad and forgot who the call was for. There was then a big blank… Then there was a burst of laughter. » Anecdotes like these, Rudy Icaré, assistant to the editorial director for radio, Claude Innocent and others, also tell.
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Others remember her arriving at work, on her Vespa which she parked at the foot of the mango tree, rue Devèze. « Always with his helmet » notes Claude Innocent. With his helmet and… with class. Because, « elegant » is a word that often comes up when you ask your former colleagues about her.
Another one is recurring: ” kind “. « She always had kindness for the young people who arrived and the fixed-term contracts from outside. » explains Karl Constable.
Laurent Marot, TV journalist confirms this. “I arrived in 2001. I I worked with her for a short time but I remember someone dynamic, with a lot of humor, who liked to teach me a few choice words in Creole. She really enjoyed talking to the agents. »
« She was always charming, outgoing, adds journalist Jean-Gilles Assard. She was one of those people who made you happy as soon as you saw them. »
This caring side, Catherine Boutet remembers it well. « I see her again, with her head tied. She always checked on my family, remembers the journalist. A bit like a neighbor. There was real empathy in her. »
« Joséphine was a whimsical and very kind person. » summarizes Jean-Elie Démonière, assistant to the editorial director in charge of TV. « She was very talkative. She made a few blunders in spite of herself while making the calls, but we loved her with her faults” jokes Jean-Pierre Beaunès, responsible for TV programs.
Sylvio Persaud, cinematographer, has known Joséphine Bourette since her childhood. « My parents worked in TV, so she knew me when I was very little. She always remained the same : magnificent, super friendly. »
THE funeral will take place this Wednesday January 8, 2025 in Cayenne after an exhibition at 10 a.m. at the Funérarium Tarin. Joséphine Bourette had expressed a wish: no dark colors that day and no crying.
His former colleagues from Guyana 1era send their most sincere condolences to the family of Joséphine Bourette with a special thought for her two children, Muriel and Jean-Marc.
