Henriette M. Leclerc Lovett

LOVETT, Henriette M. Leclerc - Passed away on Friday, December 9th at the age of 82. She was beloved and cherished by her family, many friends and students for her joie de vivre. She enjoyed life to the end, even singing "La Vie en Rose" for her nurses on the day before her death. Henriette was born in Nancy, France on May 2, 1923, the youngest of five children. She was the first in her family to attend and graduate from college and was a young elementary school teacher in Nancy when she met and married Frederic B. Lovett, a member of the Medical Lab Corps with Patton's Third Army during WWII. They remained married for 55 years until Fred's death in 2000. As a young war bride, she barely beat the stork across the Atlantic arriving in Berkeley in March 1946. Proud matriarch, she was the mother of five children, grandmother of nine, and great-grandmother of two. She lived in Berkeley for the last 59 years. She attained a masters degree in French literature from USF. She taught French in the '50s and '60s at Berkwood Elem. School and in after-school programs at Cragmont and Thousand Oaks Elem. Schools. She offered French classes for small groups of adults in her home for 50 years. She taught at Contra Costa and Diablo Community Colleges for 20 years where she was known as the singing French teacher. She had a unique and dramatic teaching style utilizing an inexhaustible repertoire of songs, poetry, puppetry, and plays, engaging and captivating students at all levels. A memorial celebration of her life will be held on Sunday, January 15th at 2 pm at the First Unitarian Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Road, Kensington, CA. Friends and family are invited to attend and share stories and memories.