Lucienne V. Wolfe, public servant and arts lover

Lucienne Vignol Wolfe, 96, died at Cadbury at Lewes, Monday, March 21, 2016.

She was born in Burgundy, France, Feb. 18, 1920, but when she was 3 years old her family moved to Paris. By age 17 she was certified to teach, and at 18 was a substitute teacher in primary public school. From the start of World War II, however, Lucienne worked as executive secretary to the director general of Grands Moulins de Paris, which operated 18 grain plants in France and North Africa. In 1944 she became an aide to the CEO of L’Oreal-Paris.

In 1946 Lucienne married Army officer Burton Asbury Wolfe in Paris, and emigrated the next year to the United States. From 1947-50, she worked in Washington, D.C, as a French translator and reviewer, then chief of language services, for the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. In 1952 she became a U.S. citizen and joined her husband stationed in Korea and Japan. In Japan Lucienne did architectural renovation design and interior decorating of three officers’ clubs and several residences, and did volunteer work with officers’ wives’ clubs to help blind children. As an avocation she did oriental-screen and oil painting, and flower arrangement.

Back in Washington in 1955-60, Lucienne was again appointed chief of language services, but this time for the World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession. She served as a conference interpreter and chief of language services for international conferences in Amsterdam and Rome. She was editor of two publications in English and French - a weekly newsletter and the monthly Review of Comparative Education.

In 1961 she worked as a freelance translator and interpreter for the U.S. Department of State; was language officer for a conference of the Puerto Rico Peace Corps; and served as a translator and interpreter for the U. S. Information Agency, and for Voice of America.

By 1962 Lucienne was appointed language officer in the Department of State, and worked as translator and reviewer, then chief of French Service Missions to Seattle, Amsterdam, Paris, and the United Nations in New York. She composed and edited a 600-page English-French glossary of technical and medical terms and phrases, which was distributed to United States agencies and United Nations organizations. She also translated and edited several booklets of information, and American songs for French-speaking countries. In the State Department Lucienne was promoted to chief of French Services.

After 40 years of public service, in 1978 Lucienne retired at age 58, and the following year moved with her husband Burton to Lewes. She designed, drew blueprints, and supervised contractors for construction of a dozen homes in Northern Virginia and Delaware, and later did volunteer work for her community association. Burton died in 1987.

She served in various leadership capacities in the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. In the Southern Delaware Choral Society she served in leadership positions and sang as a soprano. She volunteered in her parish, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Lewes, and sang in the choir. She was a member of the Lewes-Rehoboth Club of Rotary International. She was a member of the advisory board of directors of the Lewes Canalfront Park. She served in the Mid-Atlantic Symphony, and was on the fundraising committee for the new Lewes library.

In 2006 Lucienne received the Women in History Award from the DeVries chapter of Business and Professional Women for the distinguished role she played in her community and through her work. At that time she said, “I have a long history and it hasn’t all been fun. We learned to help each other living through the war in Paris. You don’t belong to yourself anymore. You get the spirit of community going.”

Lucienne’s survivors include her brother George and his wife Simone; and nieces and nephews to the fourth generation.

The visitation will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, March 24, from St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Lewes, followed by the 11 a.m. funeral. A committal service will follow at St. Peter's Cemetery on Pilottown Road.

In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, P. O. Box 464, Lewes, DE 19958.