Jacques Pierre Monchatre's Obituary
Jacques Pierre Monchatre 9/6/1932 – 8/25/2016Born in Shanghai, China, to Jean-René and Antoinette Monchatre, Jacques lived with his parents in Shanghai until 1948. He received his early schooling there at the Collège Municipal Français.In 1948, his mother immigrated to the United States, and he and his father sailed to France. Later, when his father returned to Shanghai to serve as French Consul, Jacques resided with his uncle in Nanterre, completing school at the Lycée St. Germain-en-Laye, where he took his baccalaureate.He joined his mother in California and enlisted in the U.S. Army, utilizing his language skills in Chinese and Russian as an interpreter in Korea and Germany. Upon his discharge from the Army, he enrolled at Golden Gate College and subsequently completed his education at San Francisco State University, which included participation in the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) programs in Mandarin Chinese and Russian.He opened the Mandarin Chinese Language Program at Lowell High School in the San Francisco Unified School District and enjoyed teaching Mandarin and French in Lowell and Lincoln High Schools for 40 years. Simultaneously, he taught French at the Adult School and in the Community College District.He had an amazing ability to carry on a conversation in multiple languages simultaneously. He actively sought to maintain and improve his linguistic skills and took every opportunity to communicate in French, Mandarin, Shanghai dialect, Russian, Spanish, and German. This brought him great joy and would frequently surprise and delight the people whom he would approach in restaurants, stores, or church.He leaves behind his beloved children Michèle and René and his loving wife Marcia, along with his sisters Lucienne Sikrha (Roger) of Paris, France, and Lydie Chung of Lausanne, Switzerland.A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 8, at Skylawn Memorial Park on Highway 92 at Skyline Boulevard, San Mateo. In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory can be made to the Hanna Boys Center, St. Anthony’s Dining Room, or a charity of your choice.
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