Denise Marie-Louise Gendron

Denise Marie-Louise Gendron, wife of the late Gerard J. Gendron, passed peacefully on 30 March 2014 at her home in Alexandria, Virginia, with her daughter Michele at her side. She was 94 years old.

Denise was originally from Maël-Carhaix, Brittany, France, one of nine children.

She attended school in Rostrenen, Brittany, after which she became a school teacher for a year prior to securing a position with the French Department of Mines in Paris in 1942 as an administrative assistant for retirement and pensions. She met her husband, Gerard, a Sergeant with the 395th Signal Company of the IX Air Force Engineers (AVN), shortly after the liberation of Paris in 1944. They were married in 1945 and returned to the United States with their new daughter, in 1950. Her husband was accepted to the US Foreign Service in 1951 and Denise accompanied him throughout his Department of State postings in Copenhagen, Saigon, Mexico City, Athens, New Delhi, and Foggy Bottom.

She was married to Gerard for 67 years and was a devoted wife and mother. Denise is survived by her two children, Michele and Gerard (Jr.) two granddaughters and one great-granddaughter.

Denise will be buried alongside Gerard at Arlington National Cemetery at a date yet to be determined.