Boca Bash drowning victim remembered as ‘life of the party’

BOCA RATON — Jina Theodule won’t forget her brother Francis Roselin’s outgoing personality, his zest for life or how much he loved his 5-year-old daughter, A’niylah.

“He had a big heart,” Theodule said.

“He loved life. He loved his daughter. Family was very important him.”

Roselin, 32, of West Palm Beach, died Sunday at the Boca Bash water party in Boca Raton.

Authorities said that he drowned while swimming in Lake Boca, a part of the Intracoastal Waterway northwest of the Boca Raton Inlet.

Another swimmer found him in shallow water Sunday evening after friends reported him missing. Rescue crews tried unsuccessfully to revive him.

Theodule said Roselin loved being on the water and enjoyed water sports.

“He was always willing to go out and have fun and try new things,” she said.

“He was the life of the party.”

Theodule said she and her brother were children when they moved to the U.S. from Haiti with their family. Roselin attended Lake Worth High School and graduated in 2003 from Survivors Charter School.

He worked as a driver for an auto-parts store and was pursuing work in the criminal-justice field after recently earning a bachelor’s degree from South University, Theodule said.

The family has created a GoFundMe account online to help cover expenses for a funeral service. As of noon Wednesday, the page had reached $1,940 of its $6,000 goal.

A service has been scheduled for 1 p.m. May 12 at New Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Riviera Beach, said Amanda Rich, A’niylah’s grandmother.

“It’s such a great loss for all of us,” she said. “He will be sadly missed.”