Mary VASSEUR

VASSEUR (Burmeister), Mary

Died on November 2, 2020, age 99 years.

Born April 29, 1921, to Ruth Barbara Heileman and Fred

Wilhelm Burmeister, Mary grew up in Springfield, Ohio. She graduated from Springfield High School in 1939,

Oberlin College (Ohio) in 1943 and Carnegie Library School

(Pittsburgh) in 1944.

While in Oberlin College, she met her future husband Jacques Henri Vasseur as a pen pal. Jacques was serving in the Free French Forces during WWII, visiting the USA to train at the

Naval Base in Jacksonville, Florida. Mary and Jacques finally met in person at the end of the war, and she married him in Paris, France, in 1950. After her husband's tragic and untimely death from cancer in 1953, she returned to Springfield, Ohio, with her young son, Dominique.

Mary worked at Oberlin College Library, Warder Public Library (Springfield, Ohio), and as a school librarian at Keifer Junior High and North High School (both Springfield, Ohio), retiring in 1979.

She is survived by her loving son, Dominique Henri Vasseur, with whom she lived in Columbus since 2005, and by many close and dear friends. All who knew her will remember her goodness, her gentleness, her kindness and her marvelous smile.

A funeral mass will be celebrated on Thursday, November 19 at 10:00 AM by Rev. Edmund Hussey at St. Agatha Catholic Church, 1860 Northam Rd., Columbus, Ohio 43221.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be sent to either The Clark County Public Library, 201 South Fountain Ave., Springfield, Ohio 45506, or to the Glen Helen Association (glenhelenassociation.org), 405 Corry St., Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387.