Helen Esther ("Esty") Collet's Obituary
Helen Esther Collet
Helen Esther Collet, known as "Esty" to all her family and friends, passed away peacefully on Thursday October 30 at home with her family by her side. Born in Philadelphia on July 11, 1948, she was the daughter of Richard and Mary Helen Moore Neuendorffer. She grew up in New England and attended The Kent School for Girls in Connecticut. She also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and at Baldwin Wallace College in Ohio. In 1969 she married Pierre-Yves Collet in Oyster Bay, New York. They lived in Montreal, New York and Philadelphia before moving to London, England, where Pierre had been transferred by the Rohm and Haas Company. They spent three years in England then six years in Paris. All of their three children were born abroad, Christophe in Wimbledon, England, Edouard in Paris, France and Caroline in Cambrils, Spain. The family returned to Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania in 1982 and spent the next thirty years on the Main Line. Esty worked in Executive Search primarily in Health Care and Higher Education. She was also an active volunteer at the Church of the Redeemer in Bryn Mawr where she sat on the Vestry and directed the Church School program. She is a member of the Merion Cricket Club in Haverford, PA. In 2003, she and Pierre retired to Royal Oak but she quickly started her own Executive Search business which she ran successfully for ten years. She was on the Board of the Academy of Lifelong Leaning of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. She loved being on the water, either sailing or on their motor boat, She is a member of the Miles River Yacht Club. Esty is survived by her husband Pierre, her children Christophe (Emelie) of Phoenixville, PA, Edouard (Molly) of Philadelphia, PA and Caroline Collet Bellum (Craig) of Wallingford, PA: seven grandchildren, her mother Mary Helen Moore Neuendorffer of Gladwyne, PA, two sisters Carol Ziegenhagen and husband Robert of Longmont, CO and Jean Bubriski and husband Mark of Orlando, FL, four nieces and five grand-nephews. A memorial service will be held at Christ Church in St Michaels, MD on Saturday November 8 at 11:00 AM. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, contributions to celebrate Esty's life may be made to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, 213 N. Talbot Street St Michaels, MD 21663 or to the Miles River Yacht Club Foundation Junior Sailing Program Fund, 606A N. Talbot Street S115, St Michaels, MD 21663. Funeral arrangements are by Ostrowski Funeral Home, 312 S. Talbot Street, St Michaels, MD 21663.
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