COLLIN GONZE

COLLIN GONZE  
Collin Gonze, age 89, died peacefully on January 28, 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland, where he had lived since 1978. He moved there from Chevy Chase in Washington D.C., where he had resided for 19 years, from 1969 to 1978. We remember him lovingly for his adventurous spirit, superb photography, and his love of travel. He enjoyed life heartily and happily, especially when it was accompanied by good wine, olives, cheese, books, film, theater, gardening, Mediterranean beaches in Greece, and his beloved summer house made from stone in the Haute-Savoie region of France. He was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika, on August 31, 1929, to a Belgian father, George Gonze, who was temporarily in Africa on business, and a Mauritius-born mother, Martha Gonze (nee Gautier). He grew up in Brussels, speaking only French, until the German occupation of 1940. In that year the family left Brussels and settled in Cape Town, South Africa for the duration of the war. In 1948 he moved to the U.S. to attend Stanford University, from which he graduated in 1952. Thereafter he served two years in the U.S. Army and became a U.S. citizen. After attending graduate school at the Putney Graduate School in Vermont, he settled in New York City, where he lived from 1960 to 1969. In the 1970s he built a career as a labor union official, first at the United Auto Workers in Washington D.C., then at the International Metalworkers Federation in Geneva, then as a consultant to the U.S. Agency for International Development. For 10 years he was a lecturer in labor relations at Webster University in Geneva. He was predeceased by his former wife, Ruth Gonze. He is survived by his partner of 40 years, Dominique Borel; his two sons, Joshua Gonze and Lucas Gonze, his four grandchildren, Russell, Lauren, Noah, and Liam, and his four half-brothers, Peter, Michael, Robert, and David, and their families. Funeral arrangements are with Murith S.A. in Geneva. Memorial services are planned in Geneva and in Pennsylvania.