Germaine Derovet Baldwin

Germaine Derovet Baldwin, of Blacksburg, Va., died on Wednesday, October 14, 2009, at Montgomery Regional Hospital. Born in 1923 in Mayenne, France to the late Alfred Derovet and Germaine Bertrand Derovet, she grew up in Le Mans, France. She was preceded in death by her husband, John D. Couper Baldwin, whom she met after D-Day in Rennes, France, where she was working as a trilingual secretary. He was an officer with the United States Army. Also preceding her in death was her son, John. Surviving are a daughter, Monique Baldwin Gregory, and son-in-law, Edward Ray Gregory, of Richmond, Va.; daughter-in-law, Barbara, of Denham Springs, La.; one grandson, Vance, of Panama City Beach, Fla.; sister-in-law, Marajorie Baldwin Roughton, of Norfolk, Va.; special friends, Libby Calveria, Susan Keith, B.J. Harris, Margie Poole, and Jim Nichols; and a very special friend, the late Johnnie Nichols. After World War II, Germaine volunteered in U.S. Army hospitals, working as a nurse's aide. When her husband was reassigned back to the United States, Germaine made her first trip to the U.S., straight to Norfolk, Va., where her husband's extended family lived. When her husband retired from the Army, the family moved to Blacksburg, where he worked with the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets and she became an active member of Christ Episcopal Church, the Southside Garden Club, and the Virginia Tech Faculty Wives Club. She enjoyed volunteer work with the Blood Mobile and the VA Hospital in Salem, Va. Germaine taught French at Radford University for a brief period, and occasionally gave private French lessons at home. Over 50 years of tending to the yard and beautiful garden surrounding her Blacksburg home brought her immense pleasure as it did to her neighbors and all who visited her at her home where she loved to entertain. Special thanks to the doctors, nurses, and staff at Montgomery Regional Hospital and the Kroontje Health Care Center in Blacksburg. A graveside service will be held 2 p.m. on Friday, October 16, 2009, at the Baldwin family plot in Elmwood Cemetery in Norfolk, Va. Condolences can be sent to Monique Gregory at 8998 Midway Road, Richmond, Va. 23229. Arrangements by McCoy Funeral Home, Blacksburg, Va.