Adelaide Rickert Rickert Munkenbeck

Adelaide Rickert (Cecie) Munkenbeck died peacefully on August 17 at Stamford Hospital at the age of 96. Cecie was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and attended Noroton Convent of the Sacred Heart in Darien, CT. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in English at Sophie Newcomb College at Tulane University where she also studied towards a Masters in English. She served as Queen of Proteus Ball in the 1941 Mardi Gras Carnival. Visiting a cousin who was dating a Brigadier in Vermont, she met Alfred H. Munkenbeck, Jr. of Brooklyn, New York while he was training for his role in World War II. They corresponded through the war and were married shortly after his return from Europe. She worked in NYC as a researcher for Fortune magazine while seeing Al through Law School. After a few years in Brooklyn Heights, they moved to Riverside, CT and raised their family there until 1960 when the family was re-located to Geneva, Switzerland. They returned to Old Greenwich in 1963 where they lived with a view of the Stamford lighthouse until moving to the Edgehill Community in Stamford in 2003. Cecie played an active role in the lives of her five children, supporting their activities in school, organizing trips and cultural experiences and later, as they established their own homes and families. She led by example once organizing a group to study the philosophical writings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Cecie took an interest in each of her grandchildren, engaging them in thought-provoking conversation, exposing them to the arts and a broad range of experiences. She played key roles in supporting community organizing for inner city neighborhoods and after school programming for youths in New York City and Fairfield County. When her children were grown, she took courses in landscape design and returned to help her professor publish a book. She then grew her lifelong interest in plants and garden design into a business contracting with homeowners to create or transform their gardens. Cecie enjoyed a second home on Sanibel Island, Florida with Al for 20 years. She pursued her love for the natural world and writing by publishing a whimsical children's book of poetry featuring the native birds of Sanibel Island. Cecie was also active in the social life of the town, developing a wide circle of interesting friends and organizing events and parties. She continued this well into her years at Edgehill, where she would collect dozens of her fellow residents for singing and refreshments particularly for Halloween and the winter solstice day. She is survived by her five children, Alfred Munkenbeck III of London, England, Peter Munkenbeck of Cambridge, MA, Celina Munkenbeck Kersh of Mamaroneck, NY, Anne Munkenbeck of Wilton, CT, Mary Munkenbeck Bennett of Darien, CT, fifteen grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, August 23rd at 10 AM at Saint Catherine of Siena Church in Riverside, CT. There will be a private interment followed by a repast. The wake will be at Leo P. Gallagher & Son Funeral Home 31 Arch Street Greenwich on Monday August 22nd from 5 to 8 PM. Online condolences may be made by visiting www.leopgallaghergreenwich.com