Merces Schulthess de Quevedo

Merces Schulthess de Quevedo Pessanha Freemon Passed away after a year-long struggle with cancer, in Lisbon, Portugal, on November 19, 2007. She was with her two children, Alexander and Gregory, and close friend, Beatriz Molinar. Born on October 20, 1938 in Bern, Switzerland, she was the third of four children of a Portuguese businessman and his Swiss wife, and granddaughter of a Portuguese ambassador and Swiss statesman elected four times president of Switzerland. After her childhood in Lisbon, she graduated from the University of Geneva with a master's degree in translation, and moved to New York. In 1971 she married Richard D. Freemon and moved to San Francisco, where she raised her children and ran a successful business importing Portuguese pewter. Merces volunteered for many years as a treasurer of Achievement Rewards for College Scientists and as chairman of the San Francisco chapter of the French Heritage Society. She was a great admirer of the arts, and a patron of the San Francisco Lyric Opera. Above all, she will be dearly remembered for her energy and enthusiasm by her many friends around the world from whom she drew tremendous happiness. She is survived by her children and siblings, Margarida and Vasco of Lisbon, and Marie José of Geneva. A Funeral Service was held in Lisbon, and a Memorial Service will follow at Grace Cathedral's Chapel of Grace, on January 12, at 4pm. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to the CPMC Foundation for the benefit of the CPMC Oncology Nursing Fund, 255 Post Street, Suite 700, S.F., CA 94109, or to a charity of your choice.