Jean Reitsman France

Pittsford - Jean Reitsman France passed February 3, 2021. She was a specialist on the architectural history of Rochester NY and nearby communities. She was particularly known for her early work on the Rochester architects Harvey Ellis and Claude Bragdon. She was a well-known authority on the Arts and Crafts Movement in America, on Frank Lloyd Wright, and on Louis I. Kahn.

She is survived by her daughters, Kiki France Perry (David) and Virginia Grace France (Charles Kahn), her daughter-in-law Ruth Alden Doan, her grandchildren Jaime Burns-France (Elizabeth Wallace), Katherine France (Rogan Magee), Robert Jay Kahn, Ruth Emmett Kahn, Ellie Perry (Andrew Ovrom), Joseph Howard Perry, and two great-grandchildren.

Jean Reitsman France was born August 21, 1923 in Cleveland, Ohio, daughter of Grace Emmett Reitsman and Ralph W. Reitsman.

In 1946, she graduated from Oberlin College with a degree in art history, and continued for a masters degree under art history chair Clarence Ward. In January 1948, she completed her masters and married Robert Rinehart France. They moved to Princeton, where Bob entered graduate school in economics and Jean worked on cataloging excavation material from the Athenian Agora under Homer Thompson at the Institute for Advanced Study. In 1952 their first child, Robert Karl, was born, followed by Virginia Grace in 1955.

After Bob completed his degree, he joined the economics department in Rochester, New York. Jean became involved with the First Unitarian Church, and served on the three-person committee that selected Louis Kahn as the architect of their new building, which is widely considered one of his masterpieces. In 1962 Kiki was born.

With the arrival of their third child, a larger house was needed. Jean and Bob decided to build a new house, hiring local architect Jim Cunningham to design it. Cunningham's design was influenced by Craig Ellwood's Case Study Houses in California. At the same time, they built a cottage on Canandaigua Lake, where they enjoyed sailing and swimming. The extended family, now stretching to two great granddaughters, still gathers there every summer.

Jean's involvement with the local preservation community began as soon as she moved to Rochester. She has been involved with the Landmark Society of Western New York as trustee, officer, and committee chair from 1964 until the present day. Her work as a preservationist includes service as consultant or member of the preservation boards of the City of Rochester (1972-1980), the Town of Perinton (1987-2004), and the Town of Pittsford (1990-present). She was a founding member and trustee of Historic Pittsford from 1970 to 2014.

She completed the first historic preservation inventory for the town of Pittsford in 1980, evaluating and documenting the historic significance of more than a hundred structures. She has served as architectural history consultant on numerous local projects, the most prominent of which was the Cosentino/Parker restoration of Frank Lloyd Wright's Boynton House in 2010-2012, the subject of a WXXI documentary.

Jean has worked with the University of Rochester's Memorial Art Gallery for many years. She organized a series of architectural lectures called "The Art We Live In" over more than a decade beginning in 1974. She acted as curator or coordinator of exhibits for several shows, including two on Rochester in general, Rochester Reflections (local architecture, 1971), and Made in Rochester, 1830-1930 (1974). Of particular note are two exhibits which showcased local architects, Harvey Ellis: Artist, Architect in 1972 and Claude Bragdon, A Pre-Modern Architect in 1985.

Jean taught for many years at the University of Rochester, including courses on American architecture and Frank Lloyd Wright and a seminar on historic preservation. Her teaching career spanned 1974 to 2002, when she retired at the age of 79. Many of her tens of thousands of teaching slides have been digitized for the collection of the Society of Architectural Historians.

In a wider arena, Jean is an avid member of the Society of Architectural Historians, in which she has been active since 1948. She acted as a member of the national board of trustees from 1984 to 1987, and as Harley McKee Chapter president from 1982-1988. Her definitive collection of material from early SAH tours has been transferred to their archives. She was made a Fellow of the Society in 2010.

Jean has been photographing and documenting architecture since the late 1940's. For her thesis work, she and Bob drove through small towns in Ohio to photograph early churches in the Western Reserve. Her photographs of notable buildings in the Rochester area have been invaluable to later local historians and conservators. On SAH tours, she was able to view and photograph buildings of architectural significance all over the country. Even family trips to Europe were often designed around little-photographed sites, with the children included to provide scale. Architecture is perishable, and buildings change. Her slides captured a great deal that was subsequently lost.

Jean has also served as a panelist on the Architecture, Planning and Design committee of the New York State Council on the Arts from 1983 to 1986. She is a member of the Preservation League for New York State, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, and the Arts & Crafts Society of Central New York.

Jean is the recipient of many honors. She was made a Fellow of the Rochester Museum and Science Center in 1974. The Rochester Chapter of the American Institute of Architects made her an Honorary Associate in 1981 and the AIA of New York State made her an Honorary Member in 2014. She is the recipient of the President's Award from the Landmark Society of Western New York (1987). She was made a Fellow of the Society of Architectural Historians in 2010.

When she retired from the Pittsford Design Review and Historic Preservation Board in 2017, the Town Board passed a Resolution of Commendation, recognizing "her professional expertise, her wisdom, her deep commitment, her years of service and above all her matchless aesthetic sense."

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Published by Rochester Democrat And Chronicle from Feb. 5 to Feb. 7, 2021.

Memories and Condolences
for Jean France

Sponsored by Miller Funeral and Cremation Services, Inc. - Rochester.

10 Entries

Dorie Schwertz and Mom

Planted Trees

Sandra L Frankel

February 28, 2021

I was privileged to know Jean as a member of the board of the Landmark Society. She was an inspiration. Her knowledge and passion for preservation and architecture was deep and enduring and enriched the organization and our community in so many ways. May her memory be a blessing.

TILDA HUNTING

February 27, 2021

I've just learned about Ms. France's death earlier this month.
Somehow that email from the Landmark Society escaped me.
But I only want to add to all the laudatory comments about the career of such an astute and knowledgable woman. Rochester is my hometown, and the many causes that Ms. France worked so hard on have all benefitted from a woman with her expertise. I am grateful, and we all have lost a real treasure.
She was clearly a unique and amazingly productive force.
My sympathies to her family. And also to Cynthia Howk, and to the Landmark Society of Western New York.

Dorie Schwertz

February 20, 2021

I remember Jean France as a wonderful and dear friend to my mother, Mary Schwertz. They loved to have stimulating intellectual conversations over dinner at Cloverwood in Pittsford, NY. My mother would tell me how accomplished she was. I loved having the opportunity to join them and their women friends when I would visit. I thank her daughter, Kiki, for helping my mother attend these dinners. I know it meant so much to both of them. Jean France was a bright star and she is missed. My condolences to the family.

Margaret Blair Schutt

February 8, 2021

To Jean's family, my thoughts and prayers are with you.

Jeff Cody

February 8, 2021

I send my heartfelt condolences to Kiki and other members of the France family, who have lost a loving matriarch. We who love old buildings have lost a lifelong advocate for protecting remains of the past in our midst. I first encountered Jean France's powers of persuasion roughly 40 years ago, when (as a young guy with a little archaeology experience) I met Jean and she asked me to help conduct salvage archaeology work at what was to become the Monroe Savings Bank (now Canandaigua Bank) on State Street in Pittsford. That experience galvanized our friendship and led me to take architectural history courses with Jean at U of Rochester, and then to Cornell where I completed a PhD in architectural history, and afterward (years later) to Hong Kong and eventually to the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles. During these years I would communicate intermittently with Jean, who was always curious about my work and interests, and I would see her at Annual Meetings of the Society of Architectural Historians, which Jean loved so dearly. She was fearless in her pursuits of historic preservation, insatiable in her interests about architectural history (especially the Arts & Crafts Movement), and always buoyant, encouraging, and positive in her personal interactions. I will miss her terribly and I will never forget her generous help as I, a much younger man, tried to figure out what I wanted to do with my interests. She changed my life as I'm sure she changed many others, always for the better. I hope her grieving family can hold on to her warm and loving spirit as they mourn her loss.

carolee powers

February 7, 2021

Jean was an active member of the First Unitarian Church for many many years. From her years there, I will always remember her gentle help - the best go-to for any information or help with anything in architectural history or preservation in Rochester and beyond. She was always available to talk with, and was the source of an incredible amount of knowledge. She will be missed by many. Carolee S. Powers

Bob Barrows

February 7, 2021

I was one of many who were educated about the local architectural and historical significance of buildings and structures in and around Rochester. I first met Jean while serving as a Senior City Planner for the City of Rochester. She was invaluable in helping us to assess the importance of local properties. As an initial member of the Town of Pittsford's Historical Preservation Commission, I sought out Jean's help in determining which of the town's historical and architectural resources were worthy of our attention and protection. Her legacy will be found in the properties she helped to identify and preserve for posterity. She will be missed. My condolences to the France family.

Lawrence Jones

February 7, 2021

My condolences to Jean's entire family. I worked for the Landmark Society of Western New York during the 1990s and 2000s and Jean was a tremendous asset to the organization, both as an astute board member and for freely sharing of her vast stores of architectural knowledge. Twice a year, we offered a class to Realtors® called Marketing Historic Homes Successfully and Jean's lecture was always a centerpiece. Her lectures on Rochester architects and architecture were always excellent. Jean was generous with her time and her talents throughout Monroe County, with hundreds of audiences gaining a greater appreciation for our area's unique heritage.

Audrey M. Johnson

February 6, 2021

The town and village of Pittsford was most fortunate to have Jean's expertise and devotion to the community. The community will always be in her debt for her advise on preservation and design.
Audrey M. Johnson, Town and Village Historian, Pittsford, NY

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