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In MemoriamMme. Dorothée Brodin , Mr. Jacques Lafon, Alicia (de la Serna) Peel ('69), Carlos de la Serna ('71), Michel Herckens ('68), Liliane Francais ('66), Frederic Kapner ('78), Sappho Garelli ('85)(Scroll to below the last article, for a full list of Lycee alumni and staff who are deceased, to our knowledge.) Mme. Dorothée Brodin passed away on August 20th. Mme Brodin (wife of M. Pierre Brodin) taught English Literature at the Lycée Francais de New York from 1962 to 1972. She also taught at Hunter College High and Lehman college. Mme. Brodin was buried in Royan, France, next to her husband. A memorial service was held at Hunter College on November 3, 2005 and attended by some of her students, including John Yates, Vivianne Kurzweil and Jackie Tolkowski. The memorial was a touching event with speakers from different walks of her life-- mostly from academia. John shared his recollections of her and gave humorous examples of her idiomatic translations. Many people said she was among the best (if not THE best) teacher they'd ever had. *************************************************************************** Mr. Jacques Lafon, Conseiller du Président Maurice Galy has passed away. He is survived by his wife Mme Christiane Lafon, Proviseur du Lycée during the mid 1980's, and two children and grand children. The funeral will take place on February 10, 2005. **************************************************************************** In February, 2006 Aude Velay ('66) sent us this news: "Nous avons malheureusement la nouvelle concernant Liliane Français : elle est décédée il y a déjà plusieurs années. Nous connaissions très bien son père Jacques, grand ami de notre père violoniste et grand luthier à New York, décédé l'année dernière." **************************************************************************** Victor de la Serna ('65) informed us that his sister Alicia (de la Serna) Peel, '69 "passed away suddenly on Nov. 22, 2005 in Madrid, aged 55. She had a heart condition. She is survived by her husband, Edmund Peel, a son, Charlie, and a daughter, Casilda." It was a sad year for the de la Serna family: Victor informed us that he also lost his brother, Carlos de la Serna, '71, on Feb. 26, 2005. **************************************************************************** Céline Garelli ('83) shared this sad news with us: "Sappho Garelli ('85) (my sister) died on December 20, 1998. She was a lawer (en droit des affaires, dans de nombreux cabinets d'avocats dont des cabinets américains) in Paris. She was starting a great career but....... She was at the LFNY from 1971 till 1981." **************************************************************************** Michel Herckens, '68 (affectionately known as "Hercky") passed away in July 2005, on his 56th birthday, after a long battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife, Joelle Decourteix. After the memorial service held in Brussels, he was buried in Joelle's home town, Clermont-Ferrand. Roger Liwer ('68) and Raymond Morini ('66) attended the service, and Raymond gave this eulogy: "Chers amis, Merci à tous d'être là pour Michel. Je voudrais simplement vous parler du parcours que j’ai pu faire avec Michel pendant toutes ces années. Cela a commencé il y a bien longtemps. Le père de Michel venait d’être nommé vice-consul belge à New York et c’est ainsi que Michel est arrivé au Lyçée Français. Nous n’étions pas dans la même classe, mais nous nous retrouvions presque tous les jours à midi au «Greasy Spoon», un petit snack où les étudiants du lyçée venaient déguster un hamburger et des milkshakes. Les relations de bonne camaraderie se renforçèrent lors des rencontres en boite ou aux surbooms. Lors de l’absence de ses parents Mike a même organisé dans son appartement une surprise party en mon honneur à l’occasion de mon anniversaire. Encouragé par les copains, je pense que c’est bien ce soir là que j’ai pris la première cuite de ma vie et le souvenir de ma gueule de bois le lendemain m’a permis d’éviter de tels excès par la suite. Quelques années plus tard, les aléas de la vie voulaient que je me retrouve en Belgique inscrit à l’ULB. Et lorsque Michel a débarqué à son tour pour poursuivre ses études, c’est moi le new-yorkais qui lui fit découvrir Bruxelles. Ses parents étaient restés en poste à N.Y. et si Michel s’est installé, en tout cas officiellement, dans un petit «kot» à Boitsfort, en fait, il vivait pratiquement en permanence chez moi. C’est à cette époque que la camaraderie s’est transformé en amitié, une amitié profonde et inébranlable: une entente spontanée et souvent inexprimée mais partagée. On était devenu quasi inséparable et j’ai appris à bien le connaître et à apprécier toutes ses qualités. A plusieurs reprises dans ma vie ses conseils et son soutien m’ont permis de surmonter des obstacles ou des problèmes. Michel, nous avons passé des moments merveilleux ensemble et avec Inga-Lill que ce soit en Belgique, à Céret et même de nouveau à New York quand tu t’es finalement décidé a faire ce pèlerinage sur les lieux de notre adolescence. Discret et réservé dans tes gestes et tes paroles, tu as toujours été d’une grande lucidité et tu as fait preuve, jusqu’à la fin, de cette dignité qui te caractérisait. Après l’unif, ton idéalisme t’a mené à t’investir pleinement par ton engagement politique et j’avoue que par moment j’étais un peu triste de te voir tant accaparé par tes diverses fonctions, entre autre à Waremme, qui te laissaient moins de disponibilité pour ton vieux « pote »… mais quelle joie de te voir t’épanouir. Avec le temps nous avons pu retrouver une complicité lors de nos déjeuners entre amis et j’en suis profondément reconnaissant. Le courage et la ténacité dont tu as fait preuve face à ta maladie Mike forcent l’admiration de tout le monde. Tu as bien mérité cette délivrance. Et, toi, Joelle, tous ces mois d’angoisse, d’espoir, de déceptions, merci d’avoir été là à tout moment, dans toutes les circonstances… merci de tout l’amour que tu lui as témoigné…merci d’avoir trouvé la force pour le soutenir et l’encourager. Merci d’avoir été celle qui l’a réconforté et qui est resté à son chevet jusqu’au bout, sa compagne, sa femme. Voilà. Merci Michel d’avoir été mon ami. Je t’embrasse comme un frère. Good-bye Hercky. We are going to miss you very badly." *********************************************************************** On January 1, 2006 Alain Benzaken ('78) shared this sad news with us: "It is with great sadness that I am informing everyone that Frederic Kapner, '78 passed away on December 28 2005. Frederic was a reporter and editor for the Financial Times, and was based in London. He had been living for the past few years in Milan and Paris with his wife Paola and two beautiful girls Giulia, age 9, and Sveva, age 8. He is also survived by his parents Stanley and Catherine, who still live in New York where Fred grew up. Fred died suddenly of a heart aneurysm. He was my best friend since I met him in 9eme, and I will miss him terribly. A memorial service will be held in London on Friday January 6th at Golder's Green West Chapel at 4:00pm in London." Alain Benzaken also wrote and shared with us this eulogy for his good friend Fred: "As I sat down to put into words what I wanted to say on this very sad occasion, I was struck over and over with one thought: 45 years is not enough. We are all given so much time on this earth, by the grace of god, and we try to cherish every moment as we go about our busy lives. But when I reflect back on Fred’s life, with his happy moments, his difficult days, and his joy of life, I keep thinking back to all the things we still needed to do together. Maybe I am being selfish, but there were so many things I still wanted to share with my best friend. I always thought that there would be plenty of time. We were going to watch our girls grow up together, we would attend their weddings, and pass down to our grandchildren the love of a best friend. 45 years was just not enough time for us. Let me tell you about some of those 45 years. I met Frederic when I was 7 years old in the third grade at the Lycee in NY. He was a quiet little boy, with a strange way of writing left-handed that fascinated me. He approached everything just as he approached that piece of paper, with pen in hand, from a slightly strange angle that somehow saw things differently than everyone else. It was unique to Fred. Even as a 7 year old I understood that Fred was smarter, more perceptive, played by the rules when needed, but most of all did things in his own unique way. We were together for only 1 year, he moved away to London at the end of the school year. But we stayed in touch for 4 years until he returned to NY. Seven-year-olds writing letters to each other, somehow always knowing we would always be best friends. When he returned to the Lycee in NY, we quickly fell back into the routine of figuring things out together as if he had never left, whether it was math, baseball, or girls. There is one story from that time I would like to share with his journalist colleagues, it gave a hint of what Fred was to do later in life. When we were 16 years old or so, the Lycee miraculously allowed the students to publish a newspaper. Kids wrote amusing articles, complained about our lack of gym facilities, but Fred wrote an editorial that is still very well known by those that went there at the time. The French government had captured a known terrorist named Abu Daoud, suspected of planning the Munich massacre -- his name has actually resurfaced in the news just recently. After a few weeks, afraid of the repercussions on their soil, and unwilling to extradite him to West Germany to stand trial for something he had publicly admitted doing, the French decided to release him to an Arab country. Fred wrote an editorial in our little newspaper, condemning the French for cowardice. It was brilliant, and of course, Fred got the story right. But the school could not put up with such controversy, and they called in editors, they called in his parents, and then they called in Fred. He never backed down from the story. I always admired Fred for what he did, it was truly courageous. After a few more issues, the school -- no surprise -- decided to shut down the paper. Fred’s respect for the school went slowly downhill, and he spent most of his time reading books in the back of the class. The teachers always seem to let him get away with it, I think they sensed that he was getting his education in his unique way. And of course, he probably learned more than us. The university years were a little hard on Fred, as he tried to decide what to do. Unlike many of us who blindly walked down the path of our careers, Fred took his time in deciding -- sometimes it seemed not sure if he wanted to do anything at all. But we always stayed in touch, even though we went to different schools, even though we lived on different continents, and even though we took different career paths. Whenever we saw each other we would fall right back into the conversation as if we had never been apart. I don't recall a single time when we had cross words with each other. We would always find something to laugh at, and Fred's sense of humor would never fail to lift my spirit. It seems like in all the important occasions of our lives, happy and sad, we would always find our way back. Fred somehow showed up on my honeymoon in Barcelona – I think he figured we’d be going to some really good restaurants! I was best man at his wedding. He called me on 9/11 during the events of the day, and I realized the towers were falling when I lost my connection on the phone with him at the same time as the antennas fell. And in the last few years, our families spent the New Year's together, watching in amazement as our kids played with each other and fell into being friends just as easily as Fred and I had. But when I look back, I know that what really mattered, and what really changed Fred, was when he met Paola. Everything else pales in comparison to the joy and the love he had for her, and then, for his girls, Giulia and Sveva. Where to begin? I remember the first time I met Paola, walking thru Paris with them. I was almost embarrassed by their public displays of affection. And this is in France. They literally could not keep their hands off each other. Fred felt he was the luckiest man in the world, and he was, and it changed his life. Paola, you gave him such happiness, such joy. You should know that every time I spoke to him, you were the center of his life. And the girls. He was absolutely fascinated with them, loved to watch them grow and change. He loved you, and them, truly and deeply. If there was one thing to take comfort in, it is that he died surrounded by his family. If they were the last voices he heard, of Paola and the girls, I know those are the voices that made him sing. When I heard Fred had died, one of my first thought went out to another friend we had back in school, someone we had lost touch with 25 years ago. We were a little like the 3 musketeers back then, and over the years Fred and I would always wonder what happened to our friend Greg. Greg wrote to me 2 days ago, 25 years later. Even after his death, Fred has already touched us. Greg wanted to share this with us: "Fred had the wonderful ability of poking as much fun at himself as he did at others. And he made us laugh. His great sense of humor allowed him to make friends, not enemies. Unlike many people with a sharp and sardonic wit, he let others into his heart, and he cherished them always. He was a great and true friend." 45 years might not have been enough time, but they were 45 wonderful years. I would not trade them for anything. I cannot imagine anything better than having such a true and good friend, and I am blessed, I am blessed, as we all were, to have spent time with Fred. And, now I have to say goodbye to my best friend, and I do so with a line from Yeats: "Think where man's glory most begins and ends and say -- my glory was that I had such friends." The Financial Times ran this obituary: Obituary: Fred Kapner, 1960-2005 Published: January 2 2006 15:29 Fred Kapner, the Financial Times' Europe news editor who died suddenly last week aged 45, was a meticulous reporter and exacting news editor held in high esteem by colleagues and contacts alike. His strong convictions and forensic knowledge of Italian business helped him lead on the story of the financial scandal at Parmalat. More recently, he guided the newspaper's coverage of the demise of Antonio Fazio, the Italian central bank governor. A punishing weapon in a journalist's armoury is a dogged sense of right and wrong. Kapner tempered a strong moral belief in his profession with an urbane and a dry sense of humour. At the height of the Parmalat investigation, when lawyers were poring over his articles prior to publication, Kapner said in a memo to the news desk: “We should do everything to reduce risk, but I believe a newspaper should not bow to the threat of a lawsuit by a wealthy individual simply because the law is weak. We've certainly seen enough of that in Italy and other countries these past few years.“ Throughout his career, his blend of intuition, integrity and stamina made him a formidable competitor among journalists covering Europe. At Bloomberg, Dow Jones and Business Week, where he worked for most of the 1990s, colleagues remember him for his determination and generosity of spirit. His book of contacts in Italy - a tiny, well thumbed little notebook he always kept in his back pocket - was one to be envied, but was also one that, rare among reporters, he was prepared to share. Italian newspapers would regularly pick up his stories. And some of his rivals admit going to sleep at night dreading an early morning call to follow up a Financial Times story from Kapner's pen. His love of Italy came across in many aspects of his private life. He was married to Paola Mariani and leaves two daughters, Sveva and Giulia. He returned to Italy at every opportunity. His last article was a well-observed critique of Florence's faded tourist appeal. Before joining the Financial Times as Milan correspondent Kapner who had freelanced for Business Week in Italy - helped open Bloomberg's Paris office in 1992. His aggressive reporting style in the most positive sense - breaking down difficult doors and seldom being frightened of treading on French toes - helped put Bloomberg on the map in France. Kapner subsequently joined Dow Jones and ran its Milan office before moving to London. He then returned to Milan for the Financial Times where he worked tirelessly on the Parmalat scandal, rushing back to Milan from holiday in the US after Christmas only a few days after the affair broke. Kapner combined the best aspects of American journalistic standards - he was after all a New Yorker, although his mother was of French origin and he was fluent in both French and Italian - as well as a profound knowledge of European customs and ways of doing business. Nothing better displayed his rigorous American approach, as well as honesty and integrity, than an occasion in Milan when he turned down tickets to La Scala from a leading Italian company on the basis that it could constitute a bribe. He also made a name for himself by grilling Italian chief executives whose smooth presentations either infuriated him or failed to answer his questions. Kapner could be gruff and had a temper, but one that was usually fired either by what he considered to be cant or professional laxity. Kapner was always direct and to the point, yet also understood the complexities of the European corporate world which he found fascinating. He held his subjects in sharp focus, but at all times kept a sceptical distance from the business world he covered. This, over the past 18 months, made him a tenacious and demanding anchor of the newspaper's European coverage. He will be deeply missed by friends and colleagues alike." This obituary appeared in the New York Times: "KAPNER—Frederic. An editor for the Financial Times, Fred, as he was known to colleagues, age 45, died suddenly on December 25, 2005 at his London home. He was the husband of Paola (nee Marieni of Milan, Italy) and father of daughters Gulia, 9, and Sveva, 8. He is survived by his mother, Catherine, and father, Stanley H. Kapner, retired Time Inc. director of public affairs, both residents of Manhattan. He leaves his mother-in-law, Tina Marieni, and an uncle, Dr. Jean Segal of Paris. A 1978 graduate of the Lycee Francais in New York City, Fred received a B.A. from Columbia University. He began his career in business journalism in Baltimore, worked for Bloomberg News in Paris, and was a correspondent for The Associated Press in Milan. He then joined the Financial Times as its Milan bureau chief, where he reported on such running stories as the convoluted trails of Italian Prime Minister and media baron Silvio Berlusconi and the Parmalat corporate scandal. In 2004 he became an FT editor of European political and general news in London. A talented multilingual journalist and a lovely family man, Fred will be sorely missed." *********************************************************************** DECEASED (Copy the website address and paste into your browser window for further details, where available) Professors/Staff/Administration Mme. Louise Bégué Mr. Pierre Brodin Mme. Dorothée Brodin (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.23/50/599) Mme. Nanette Cérisoles (http://lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.20/50/169) Mr. Claude Choquet M. Georges A. Deschamps Mme. Hélène Ettinger M. Maurice Galy M. Arje Hary Mme. Tina Hess (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.22/50/431) M. Claude Jacot M. Martin Kieffer (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.20/7/279) M. Jacques Lafon Mme. Marie-Andree Mount M. Alexander Obolensky Mme. Ariane Popa (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.22/50/431) M. Robert Roussel Mme. Michèle Sampson Students Jacques Leclerc, '40 Francois Mariani, '40 Victor A. Soskice, '41 François Chapman, '42 Françoise (Cohen) Monteagle, '42 Pierre Frye, '42 Claude Lebel, '42 Guillaume de Bourgoing, '43 François de Bourgoing, '43 Alix (Hamburger) Deguise '43 (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.21/50/580) Pierre Rosset-Cournand, '43 Charles de Ferry de Fontnouvelle, '43 Esther (Huisman) Asper, '44 Eleanor Cramer, '44 Raoul Grenade, '44 Natacha (Dorfmann) Ulmann, '45 David Mogoulosky, '45 Antoine Chapman, '46 Françion (Garreaud) Sonnery, '46 Léon Lambert, '46 Muriel (Landau) Michel, '46 Renata Chapiro, '47 Jacques de Panafieu, '47 (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.21/50/580) Dominique Eude, '47 Tanaquil (Leclercq) Balanchine, '47 Arthur Robbins Jr. Griswold , '47 Maurice Godet, '48 Jean Kaminker, '49 Jacques Rouxel, '49 (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.21/50/580) Alice (Lorsy) Birner, '50 Jean Breffort, '50 Alexis Kalioujny, '50 (http://lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.20/50/169) Chantal (Laurentie) Lusby, '50 Delphine (Seyrig) Youngerman, '50 Jules Huot, '51 (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.22/50/431) Jeanne (Blanchenay) Kerblat-Houghton , '52 Jacqueline (Contenson) Duguet, '52 Marc de Magnin, '52 Hélène Delgado Chalbaud, '53 Georges de Montebello, '53 Hubert-Michel Ripka, '53 Claire (de Reinech) Sreenivasan, '53 Claudine Brasseur, '54 Angelica Guidotti, '54 Dorita Lochak, '54 Charles de Toulouse Lautrec, '54 Bernard Mendes France, '54 Christian Segard, '54 René Blanchenay, '55 Patrice de Gramont, '56 Claude Toselli, '56 Anne-Marie (Maluski) Chapouton, '57 Ariel Brun de Pontet, '58 (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.21/50/580) James S. Abrams, '59 Olga Georges-Picot, '59 (http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorsG/P00006460.HTML) Franklin Darmory, '60 Keith Brenner, '61 Naomi Schor , '61 (http://www.yale.edu/opa/v30.n13/story6.html) François Hervé, '62 Nicole Le Vien, '63 Thomas Taylor, '64 Tibou Lubart, '65 (http://hometown.aol.com/rogernyc/TibuObituary.html) Liliane Francais, '66 (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.23/50/599)Francois Ganem, '66 Xavier Gélin, '66 Monique Hirschler, '66 (http://lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.20/50/169) Martine Sironneau, '66 Yves Bizien, '67 Laurent de Montmollin, '67 Peter Warren, '67 Georges Bibaud, '68 (http://hometown.aol.com/rogersanit/GeorgeBibaud.html) François Cailliarec , '68 (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.15/50/600) David Cohen, '68 Michel Herckens, '68 (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.23/50/599) Frederique Hugueny, '68 Carole Hugueny, '68 Marc Verine, '68 Everett Wetchler, '68 Jacqueline Wolff, '68 Alicia (de la Serna) Peel, '69 (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.23/50/599) Richard Gorka, '69 Julie-Ann Krewer, '69 (http://hometown.aol.com/rogersanit/Krewer_Eulogy.html) Eva Lewin, '69 Victoria Blumka, '70 Philip Haentzler, '70 (http://www.silive.com/september11/lr/index.ssf?/september11/lr/haentzler.html) Carlos de la Serna, '71 (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.23/50/599) Georges Dremeaux, '71 (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.22/50/431) Eric de Villepin, '71 Gerard Crouzilhat, '72 (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.21/50/580) Christophe Lefebure, '72 (http://lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.20/50/169) Valerie (Noel) Claisse, '72 (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.21/50/580) Patricia Perinel, '72 Alain Chèvre, '73 Christina Duff '73 Axel Jahan, '73 Corinne Le Fresne, '73 David Cahn, '75 Bénédicte Martin, '75 Sylvie Bassette, '76 Yvan Antich, '77 (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.22/50/431) Nicolas Reynard, '77 (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/11/1112_041112_reynard_crash.html) Philippe Dehais, '78 (http://lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.20/50/169) Marina Vaillaud, '78 Frederic Kapner, '78 (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.23/50/599) Julien Lanoé, '79 Gabriella (Tussusov) Morey, '79 (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE7DE163DF930A1575AC0A9659C8B63) Dr. Charles Wolff, '79 Françoise Lepeltier, '81 Lofti Mestiri, '81 Francis de Montebello, '82 Jenny Kleinman, '83 Chantal Konda, '83 Oulimata Sarré, '83 Makram Tueni, '83 Hélène (Nguyen) Ommont, '84 (http://hometown.aol.com/rogersanit/Ommont_Eulogy.html) Sappho Garelli, '85 (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.23/50/599) Didier Martheleur, '87 Olivier Du Pont, '88 Frederic Baer, '89 Patrick Bahr, '89 Romain de Plas, '89 Benjamin Gumuchdjian, '91 Edem Adjoyi, '92 Bianca Pujol, '95 (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.22/50/431) Bertrand Fournier '98 (http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.22/50/431) |
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