Obituary: Cécile Marie Jeunet Spalding, 95, Louisville
Cécile Marie Jeunet Spalding, 95, of Louisville, died Friday, April 17, 2020. She was born in Paris, France Sept. 16, 1924, to André and Aimée Jeunet. Following in the footsteps of her architect father, she enrolled in the Ecole Municipal de Dessin et Art, graduating with honors in 1945. She attended this prominent Paris school throughout the Nazi occupation, during which she suffered greatly from hunger, cold winters and fear. Following graduation she began working professionally, creating designs for fabric and wallpaper.
In the Spring of 1945, while visiting a friend in the vicinity of Versailles, she met Richard Spalding, a corporal in the U.S. Army Air Force stationed nearby. Their attraction to one another was immediate. After Richard was transferred to Germany, their relationship blossomed through letters—a correspondence that continued as he returned home and resumed studies at the University of Louisville School of Music.
Following his graduation in 1948, Richard returned to Paris, where the couple was married. In 1949 they set sail for America and initially took up residence with Spalding’s parents in Louisville. She soon learned English proficiently, though French remained the family language. In 1958 she and her husband were happy to facilitate the immigration of her parents to Louisville.
She was well received in Louisville. Almost immediately, she began taking on private students for tutoring in French—a vocation she developed and carried on for many years, earning the gratitude of many, some of whom became life long friends. During the early 1950s, she continued her design career through agents in New York. After beginning to raise a family (Steven, Cynthia, and later Richard J.) her professional work tapered off; however, Her creative urge never ceased and her artistic talents were multidisciplinary. She found new outlets in pottery, and hand printing exquisite Christmas Cards that were eagerly awaited by friends everywhere. Her delicate pastels captured the mood of favorite vacation spots. And she became a masterful seamstress.
Her deeply felt sense of French culture was a gift to us all. She was a marvelous cook, recreating the classic dishes of her country. Her dinners for guests and family were much-awaited affairs, bringing quiche, escargots and even crêpes to Louisville before they were in vogue. She left her children and grandchildren with an intuitive understanding about food, and an appreciation of what it means to be together around the table. She forever maintained her sense of being a Parisienne—even in her declining months she talked about her beloved city with detail and passion.
She was devoted to her family and friends: she spent happy hours corresponding with loved ones in France. She loved telling stories of her childhood and early youth, hiking with her father near their ancestral village in the French Jura. She also spent long hours writing in vivid detail about her experience of living in Paris during the Nazi occupation.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Lucien.
She is survived by her husband; three children, Steven (Leslie), Cynthia, and Richard J. (Elizabeth); and five grandchildren Andrew, Claire, Virginia, Margot and Magdalena.
Her beauty, modesty and honesty will always be remembered by her family and friends. She appreciated all the arts, and especially loved attending Louisville’s orchestra, ballet and opera.
Arrangements for a celebration of her life will be announced at a future time.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy be made in the form of donations in her name to the Louisville Orchestra or to the Olmsted Parks Conservancy.
Ratterman and Sons Funeral Home on Bardstown Road in Louisville is in charge of arrangements.
-30-
