Obituaries
Fernande 'Fern' M. DeGeorge 1931 - 2011 Lawrence
Fern DeGeorge
Memorial Mass for Fernande M. “Fern” DeGeorge, 79, Lawrence, will be at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Lawrence Catholic Center in Lawrence.
Mrs. DeGeorge died Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011, at her home.
She was born Dec. 17, 1931, in Rumford, Maine, the daughter of Albert and Bertha Melanson. She attended Stevens High School in Rumford, and received her B.A. from Regis College in Weston, Mass. She was a Fulbright Fellow to Grenoble, France, and then received her M.A. from Yale University.
She conducted an experimental program in teaching French in elementary schools, grades 1 through 6, in Montgomery County, Md., in 1956-57. She received her master of philosophy in 1970 and her Ph.D. in 1972 in French literature from Kansas University. She co-edited a best-selling book on structuralism and published several articles on French literature and literary criticism. She worked for a short while in KU’s Study Abroad Office, and as a research assistant at KU.
She loved literature and was a courtesy assistant professor of western civilization. She also served as a docent for the Spencer Museum of Art.
She was a longtime member of the St. Lawrence Catholic Center, of Friends-in-Council and of the University Women’s Club. She was a devoted wife and mother, an award-winning quilter, a world traveler and an avid gardener.
She married Richard DeGeorge in 1957 in Arlington, Va. They moved to Lawrence in 1959. He survives of the home.
Other survivors include three daughters, Catherine, Denver, Rebecca and her partner Guila Muir, Seattle, and Anne Marie and her husband Richard Mueller, Pittsburgh; and three grandchildren, Grace, Hannah and Nathaniel.
The family will greet friends from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, with a vigil service at 6 p.m., at Warren-McElwain Mortuary in Lawrence.
The family suggests memorials to the St. Lawrence Catholic Center or the KU Endowment Association, sent in care of the mortuary, 120 W. 13th St., Lawrence, KS 66044.
Online condolences may be sent to warrenmcelwain.com.
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