Yvonne Sylvanie Galiay was born in the charming village of Campan, one of the most beautiful places in the French Pyrenees mountains, the population at that time was less than 300. Because her father worked nights for the railroad, he insisted his very pregnant wife stay with her relatives in the countryside so they could attend to her quickly, if needed. Yvonne has always made a big entrance in everything she has done, starting with her birth. She arrived in the middle of the night, and she was born in the town’s doctor’s house, a dark gray building, as is the style in the region. But that evening, the darkness of the house was brightened by an enormous firework display. She always told us it was in her honor, it was the 14th of July, Bastille Day in France, and everyone celebrated.
Yvonne’s life became a story of strength and survival. She was only 18 months old when her beautiful mother died tragically, leaving her young broken-hearted father to raise her and her three-year-old brother Marcel. Eventually her father was convinced to hire a nanny to help him and a few years later he married her, much to the children’s delight. Mimi always said she was lucky that her dad married Tantine, who treated the children as her own, assuring them a happy childhood.
World War II was tragic in Europe and in Yvonne’s family. She told many stories of the German bombings, the warning sirens sounding in the middle of the night, and the many family members lost to war or concentration camps. Her own brother, then 20 years old, died during that time and her stepmother Tantine soon followed him in death, from a broken heart.
Yvonne had now become a beautiful young woman and had many suitors all around her. Her father hoped she would marry a local man and settle in the same city to stay close and raise a family. But the one who eventually stole her heart was a young immigrant from the Ukraine named Paul. His tales of escaping the war camps, traveling from country to country, arriving in France with only the clothes on his back, mesmerized her. It fit right in her love of Russian novels. Yvonne and Paul married and to the consternation of her father, they left France in quest for adventure. The girl who was born in a small mountain village went off to explore the world!
Her first trip to join her new husband was alone on a ship from Le Havre, France to Argentina. It took one long and eventful month for her to arrive but while on the ship, she stopped at numerous exotic locations including Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which she always said impressed her the most. Finally, together, the young couple first lived in a one room studio in Argentina, then moved to Chile and finally settled in Venezuela where they ended up living for 18 years. Mimi gave birth to their one and only child in a small hospital in Valencia. She chose her child’s name after her devotion to the Virgin Mary and her favorite French singer, Edith Piaf, who was taking over the song scene: Marie-Edith. It was an unusual combination, but Yvonne was always a trendsetter.
By now, Yvonne was now fluent in Spanish and volunteered to teach reading to illiterate adults who loved her enthusiasm and learned to read Spanish with a French accent.
Eventually, the family moved to New Orleans where at the age of 48 Yvonne learned to speak English. She took classes and was certified to teach French and became a much-loved teacher at the International House in New Orleans. She also taught evening courses at the University of New Orleans and gave private French lessons to many of the reigning New Orleans Carnival Kings and Queens. She built quite a following as a teacher.
Once her grandchildren came along, she dedicated her time to take care of them and to make sure the French language would not be lost in the new generation. They were her focus, and she fully invested her love and teachings in them. She also traveled with them once a year to France where she would stay for extended periods of time in her beloved house in Tarbes.
At the age of 92, Yvonne was still teaching French at the Lakeview Shepherd Center, her “club” as she called it, a day center for adults of which she was a proud member and where she refined her talent for painting.
She will be greatly missed by her many friends and family. Yvonne is survived by her only child, Marie-Edith Kaposchyn (Dr. Eric Ravussin), her two much loved grandchildren, Blake Stafford (Shannon Stafford) and Aryelle Collins (Chaston Collins) and her two beloved great-grandchildren, Cardyn and Luke. She is preceded in death by her husband of 69 years, Paul Kaposchyn, her parents, Basile Galiay and Jeanne Blanche Galiay, her brother, Marcel and her stepmother, Tantine.
Services will be held at Leitz-Eagan Funeral Home, 4747 Veterans Memorial Boulevard in Metairie on Saturday, May 18, 2024. Visitation will be from 1 to 2 PM followed by a Memorial Mass. After the memorial, her remains will be brought back to France where she will be buried in the family gravesite of the Cimetiere de la Sede, in Tarbes.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.LeitzEaganFuneralHome.com.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.11.0