Madeleine Blanche Berger (née Dufour) died peacefully in her sleep on December 6, 2014. She was 96. Madeleine was born in Paris in 1918, the youngest of five siblings (André, Alice, Lucien and Marcelle).
At age 18, she earned a scholarship for secretarial training in London, making her the first member of the family to receive a post-secondary education. That experience eventually resulted in a career as a bilingual administrator with the United Nations, imbued her spoken English with a British flair that she always retained, and instilled in her a lifelong appreciation of a proper cup of afternoon tea. In 1947 Madeleine relocated to New York City, bringing her two children, Martine and Patrice to join her there in 1949.
In New York, Madeleine embarked on a 35-year career with the Unites Nations, eventually becoming a director in the Conference Services responsible for documents published in the five official languages of the UN. After her retirement, Madeleine occupied herself with traveling the world, strolling the halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, caring for her sister Marcelle in Paris, visiting her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, enjoying issues of the New Yorker and bird watching from the window of her Queens apartment.
Madeleine is survived by her children Martine Barker (Douglas) and Patrice Berger; her grandchildren Christine Evans (Bill), Seth Barker (Lisa), and Gabrielle (Seth Cohen) and Marc (Jessica) Berger; and her great-grandchildren Eric and Mark Evans, Kile, Jordan and Quinn Barker and Caleb Cohen.
Remembrances in Madeleine’s name may be made to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).