ODETTE PANTELICH

ODETTE LOUISE GALMARD PANTELICH  
On Sunday, January 7, 2018 at the Thomas Circle Residences. Born Odette Louise Galmard on July 24, 1920 in Ballancourt-sur-Essonne, France, she participated in Resistance activities during the German occupation in World War II, shortly after which she emigrated to the United States. She was first employed as a domestic at the Virginia estate of prominent diplomat David K.E. Bruce. In later employment, she met and married the cook, Vojislav "Voya" Pantelich, formerly a POW of the Nazis following the German conquest and occupation of Yugoslavia, and unreconciled to his homeland's subsequent Communist dictatorship. In the early 1950's, the couple opened the landmark Chez Odette restaurant at 3063 M St. in Georgetown. Odette and Voya prospered operating the popular, modestly priced French restaurant until selling the property and name in 1974. In their post restauranteur years, Odette and Voya, along with brother Pierre, routinely travelled both France and the U.S., and delighted in their beach condo on Sanibel Island, FL. Illness claimed Voya, a Serbian community leader, in 1981. While continuing her life and travels with Pierre, Odette also devoted years to memorializing the U.S. 7th Armored Division soldiers slain during the liberation of Ballancourt in August 1944. Through her efforts, in the late 1990s the town installed a permanent tribute to the two casualties. Odette passed with many friends but no heirs, and was preceded in death by her father, Marcel Galmard; mother, Louise Galmard, née Palais; husband, Voya; and brother, Pierre Louis Francois Galmard. Interment will be at the Galmard family vault in Baulne, France. A domestic service will be arranged at a later date at the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Washington, DC. As Odette was a generous, long-time supporter of human and animal welfare, Memorial contributions may be made in Odette Pantelich's name to these charities: Sasha Bruce Youthwork, Inc.; the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital; and/or the Humane Society of the United States. Please view and sign the online guest book at: www.DeVolFuneralHome.com