Avis de décès de Helen-Phelps Bailey

BAILEY - Helen Phelps of Englewood, age 90, on May 28, 2002. Professor of French Language and Literature at Barnard College for forty-three years, she served as Dean of Studies from 1956 to 1971, years in which many students experienced her warmth and support. A graduate of Barnard College, she earned a Ph.D. from Columbia University, and also studied at McGill University in Montreal and the Sorbonne in Paris. She authored a book, Hamlet in France, and, for her fostering of French culture and arts, she was awarded the Palmes Academiques by the French Government. A resident of northern Bergen County for most of her life, she attended Leonia High School where she acted in dramatic productions and was dubbed the "Helen Hayes of Leonia." In later years her perceptive, expressive readings for the Leonia Library's Bloomsday Festival were annual events, and she enlivened the Library Book Group with her wit and eloquence. She often read "In Flanders Fields" at the community's Memorial Day Ceremony. A parishioner of the Church of St. John the Evangelist in Leonia, she served as a lector and was a member of the choir. She encountered everyone on an equal footing, with a rare combination of kindness and objectivity that made her a dear and valued friend. She will be deeply missed. She is survived by three cousins, Katherine Ford, Margaret Mary Hitscherich, and Elizabeth Murry. The family will receive friends on Monday from 2-4 and 7-9 PM at the Frank A. Patti & Kenneth Mikatarian Funeral Home, 327 Main Street, Fort Lee, "opposite the Library." A funeral mass will be celebrated at 10:30 AM on Tuesday, in St. John's Church, Broad Avenue and Harrison Street, Leonia, NJ. For information, call (201) 944-0100.