In Memoriam

Madeleine Moon Kreitzer
Class of '42

Madeleine Moon Kreitzer, 88, of Lexington Park, MD, a member of the Class of 1942, and a longtime lab instructor at St. Mary's College of Maryland, died June 27, 2008 at Sunrise Senior Living Center in Annapolis, MD.

Born April 8, 1920, in Antwerp, Belgium, she was the daughter of the late Louis B. and Yvonne Coutin Moon. Madeleine entered the United States through Ellis Island in December 1925. Her mother was originally a French citizen and her father was an officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. As a child, she lived throughout the United States as the family followed her father's military career. She attended SJC on a scholarship and after graduation worked at military medical laboratories in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Key West, FL.

She met her husband, William Rutherford Kreitzer, in Savannah, GA., where they both attended high school. They married on Oct. 23, 1943, in Key West, FL. The Kreitzers had seven children and as a Navy family were stationed in San Francisco, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Portsmouth, VA.; Newport, RI and Washington, DC. Bill retired from the Navy as a commander, then pursued studies as a clinical psychologist and practiced in that field for many years. Madeleine worked for the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center and co-authored a study of salmonella that was published in issues of Applied Microbiology.

She completed her master's degree in microbiology at the University of Maryland, and was a chemistry lab instructor at St. Mary's College of Maryland for more than 15 years, retiring in 1986. A chemistry lab at the college's new Goodpastor Hall was named in her honor in 2007. A former student, David Burdette, donated the funding for the lab with the stipulation that it be named for Madeleine, an "inspirational chemistry lab instructor, mentor and friend."

After her retirement from the college she and her husband joined the Peace Corps, serving from 1986 to 1988 in Belize, where she worked at the Good Shepherd Clinic, offering free health services to the residents of San Jose Succotz, a community near the Guatemala border.

Madeleine and Bill traveled widely in North and South America and Asia. After returning to St. Mary's County, MD from their Peace Corps service, she was a substitute teacher in the public schools. She was the longtime president of the local chapter of the American Association of University Women, volunteered at Historic St. Mary's City, and was the community co-chair of the Restoration Advisory Board for Patuxent River Naval Air Station.

Bill died in March 2007. Her brother, Russell Moon, also predeceased her.

Madeleine is survived by her seven children; Susan Norlund of Frazier Park, CA, Thomas Richard Kreitzer of Lovettsville, VA.; Nancy Kreitzer of Huntingtown, MD; Joan Ellis of Kingston, NY; Katy Kreitzer Boyd of Leonardtown, MD; Robert E. Kreitzer of Bangor, ME; and Janet Kreitzer of Santa Cruz, CA; 10 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

She was interred with her husband in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA. The family suggested memorial contributions to the Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan 49221-1793, the AAUW "Dare to Dream" Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 216, St. Leonard, MD 20685 or St. Mary's College of Maryland Foundation, 18952 E. Fisher Road, St. Mary's City, MD 20686.

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