Obituary: Denise Claude Le Goff
May 19, 2015
Dr. Claude Le Goff Former USC French Professor Instructor in MIBS Program COLUMBIA – Denise Claude Le Goff, 86, died May 3, 2015, in Columbia after a long illness.
A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 21, at St. Mary’s Church, 170 St. Andrews Road, Columbia, with a reception to follow in the church hall. A private committal service will be held at a later date at St. John in the Wilderness Church in Flat Rock, North Carolina.
Dr. Le Goff was born in Alfortville, France, the daughter of the late Maurice Trameau and the late Lucie Trameau. She was the widow of Serge Le Goff, retired member of the French diplomatic service. She earned a doctorate in American Literature from the Sorbonne in Paris and authored several books and a number of scholarly papers.
She taught at several institutions of higher learning, including University of Nebraska, Rutgers University, and lastly at the University of South Carolina (USC) from which she retired. She is remembered with great affection by a host of friends and students, including many who studied French in the Master of International Business Studies (MIBS) program at USC. Dr. Le Goff was highly recruited by the Foreign Language Department at USC and she was actively involved as an instructor in business French. All of her MIBS students who sat for the examination in commercial French, which was administered by the Paris (France) Chamber of Commerce, passed with high honors.
Before her retirement, she was an active member of the Alliance Fran‡aise in Columbia. During their marriage she and her husband Serge traveled widely, visiting five continents. In her youth she studied in England to perfect her language skills. Despite her debilitating illnesses, she was always aware of her appearance and insisted on lipstick, nail polish, and hennaed hair until the very end. She was deeply religious having been born Roman Catholic. She embraced the Episcopal Church and became a faithful and regular communicant at St. Mary’s (Columbia) and St. John in the Wilderness in Flat Rock where she and Serge had a summer home; however, she never abandoned her natal Catholic faith.
In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 170 St. Andrews Road, Columbia, SC 29210; the Episcopal Church of St. John in the Wilderness, Post Office Box 185, Flat Rock, NC 28731; the Educational Foundation of the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208; or to a charity of one’s choice.
Woodridge Funeral Home of Lexington is assisting with service arrangements. Notes may be left at www.woodridge-lexington.com.
