Death of Mary Boyle, former teacher at LGB and La Chât

The Boyle family is sad to announce the death of Mary Boyle, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.  

Born Mary Moorat in London, in 1933, she was evacuated to Cumberland with her mother and four brothers at the beginning of World War II. After the war she attended a teacher training college in Leeds and by 1960 was living in Datchet, Bucks, working as a primary school teacher in the Windsor area.

In September 1961, she moved to Geneva to take up a position as a Primary School teacher at the International School in Geneva (La Grande Boissière). At the end of the school year, she married Dan Boyle, who she had met before leaving the UK. They were married in Geneva and moved to Chelmsford in Essex where their two children, Robert and Tanya were born.

In 1977, the family moved to Geneva and Mary returned to the International School, again as a Primary School teacher, initially at LGB and later at Pregny, Rigot and finally at La Châtaigneraie. She retired in 1995 and moved to Dardagny where she was able to satisfy her love for gardening, while also devoting herself to helping with her young grandchildren. Her other major hobby had always been patchwork, and she was able to work on a wide range of highly professional bedspreads, cushion covers and other beautifully made examples of her creative skill.  

Over the years, Mary was involved in the Geneva Amateur Operatic Society in which both her son Robert and husband Dan were active. She was House Manager for several GAOS pantomimes and also worked actively in costume, lighting and other backstage and Front of House teams and, for many years, kept in regular touch with former colleagues at the International School.

 By 2014, the effects of Alzheimer’s disease meant that she had to move full time into the Résidence de la Rive which is devoted to the long term care of patients suffering from this disease. There she received the continuous care and support needed as she gradually grew weaker and less conscious of her surroundings. The family was able to visit her regularly, and there were three generations of her family with her on Friday, 11 February, when she slipped quietly away in the early evening.