Martine Meyer

Meyer, Martine (Nee Darmon) Died Sunday, July 28, 2013, at the home where she had lived for more than half a century with her family, friends and beloved dog Sahara at her side. Martine was born April 15, 1929 in Casablanca, Morocco to Armand (Amram) and Suzanne (Levy-Neymarck) Darmon. Immediately after the war, she left North Africa to study English at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. She continued her education at UW-Madison where she received her Master's in English. She then started teaching French at UW-Milwaukee, commuting to Madison during this time to finish her Ph.D. in French. She taught courses in French language, literature and civilization as well as Francophone literature for more than 40 years as well as chairing the department for a long time. In addition to teaching, Martine also served as president of the Alliance Francaise de Milwaukee from 1956-1958 and 1998-2000. She taught African-American literature at Mohamed V University in Rabat, Morocco in 1989 while on sabbatical where she also helped organize a student exchange with UWM. She and her colleague Anthony Ciccone wrote the French textbook Teletexte in the 1990s using some of the information she collected in Morocco. As late as February of this year, she was teaching a class for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. She has also sponsored and participated in field trips in the Milwaukee Public Schools for the last twenty five years. Survivors include a daughter, Stephanie L. Meyer, of Milwaukee; a granddaughter, Kenza El Abdallaoui, of Milwaukee; and a sister, Nicole Chandler, of Oceanside, California. She was pre-deceased by her ex-husband of 25 years, John R. Meyer, formerly of Milwaukee. Visitation will be held Saturday, August 3 from 11AM-1PM at the Feerick Funeral Home, 2025 East Capitol Drive in Shorewood, followed by a memorial celebration. Burial will take place at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery on 64th and Burleigh at 2:30 PM followed by a reception at Martine's house. In lieu of flowers, donations in Martine's memory can be sent to the Martha Best/Martine Meyer Scholarship Fund, UWM Office of Development and Alumni Relations /P.O.Box 413/Milwaukee, WI 53201. Special thanks to Vitas Hospice, particularly Diane Petersen, Dr. Marc Rasansky and his nurse Tina Becherer, and Martine's dear friends Karen Sundell and David Love.