George Labalme Jr.

WEST CORNWALL — George Labalme Jr., 88, who died Sept. 14, 2016, was born in Paris, France, on Nov. 17, 1927, and lived there until 1939 when he moved with his family to New York City. That summer, he met 12-year-old Patsy Hochschild at a camp in the Adirondacks, where they each had longstanding family ties. He was taken by her charm and intelligence; she considered him a French brat. They did not see each other again until age 20, when she was a graduate student at Harvard. After a long courtship and one canceled wedding, they married on the anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 1958, somewhat to the surprise of everyone including themselves.

After graduating from Rumsey Hall and The Hotchkiss School (Class of 1946), he was drafted into the U. S. Army and served with the occupation forces in Tokyo until 1947 under Gen. Douglas MacArthur. George occasionally pointed out that had President Truman not ended the war when he did, he would have likely died in the invasion of Japan.

Instead, George attended Kenyon College on the GI Bill. After graduation, he taught English at the Millbrook School for a year and then worked in Milan, Italy, with architect/designer Gio Ponti, followed by five years with industrial designer (and uncle) Raymond Loewy in Paris and New York. One of George’s best-known designs was the Grey Poupon mustard jar.

George and Patsy bought their home in West Cornwall in 1963 and lived there part-time for the rest of their lives. For nine years, George was vice president of the New York Public Library, and from 2002-14 served as a trustee and later as president of the Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation. For 13 years he was a trustee of the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, through which he helped produce The Poetry of Light, an exhibition of 140 drawings from the National Gallery of Art, displayed at the Correr Museum in Venice, Italy, in 2014-15. For many years he was treasurer of the Renaissance Society of America and a board member of the Adirondack Museum.

But it was his lifelong partnership with Patsy that was the source of his greatest happiness. They shared a passion for the humanities, and for all things Italian — especially Venetian — and were deeply involved with communities such as The Brearley School, the Institute for Advanced Study and the American Academy in Rome. 

To all his friends, George was known for his boisterous laugh, his unconditional acceptance of people and his faith in the future. Within his inner circle, he was also known for his love of oysters, which he sometimes had for both appetizer and dessert. 

George loved beekeeping, fly-fishing and sharing cases of French wines as fast as he acquired them. Many considered him the epitome of the true gentleman. He was surrounded by women and a champion of them all. 

He is survived by his four children, their spouses and seven grandchildren, Jenny Labalme and John Krull of Indianapolis (Erin and Ian Krull); Henry Labalme and Jeanne McMullin of West Cornwall (Eve, Pia Louise, and Sylvie Celeste Labalme); Lisa and Michael Osterland of Montreal (Becket and Wesley Osterland); and Victoria Labalme and Frank Oz of New York City.