Family’s history of charity inspires tournament fund-raiser

Written by James Passeri Sunday, 08 July 2012 13:00

When Marcelle (Honorine) Gance came to America at the end of World War II, she left her French home in Marseille with an American newlywed and an enduring sense of gratitude and charity.

Her writings and a family legacy stand as a testament to Ms. Gances devotion to helping others, especially St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, a premier center for research and treatment of childhood cancer and other deadly diseases, based in Memphis, Tenn.

With the upcoming Honorine St. Jude Golf Classic, set for Monday, Aug. 27, at the Silvermine Golf Club in Norwalk, it seems that Ms. Gances son, Scott Gance of Wilton, has taken on the family baton of charity, having grown his infant golf tournament into a robust, multi-sponsored nonprofit, expected to bring in about $100,000 for the hospital.

The tournaments inaugural year was 2010, generating $1,500 in proceeds. But in just two years, it has grown exponentially, thanks in large part to a much-welcomed group of community, regional and national supporters.

Mr. Gance has dedicated the fund-raiser to his parents, Marcelle and Anthony, who met in France at the end of the war and settled in Vestal, N.Y. Ms. Gance becoming a proud American citizen.

In her writing, Ms. Gance described living in France for 20 years, and her letters reflect the civilian anxiety of German occupation and the relief American soldiers brought with the liberation of Marseille:

The whole population of this second (largest) city in France must have been on the streets and avenues and boulevards, dancing, singing, hugging the soldiers, buried by the crowds and under the flowers thrown at them, she wrote.

Anthony Gance was a uniformed American soldier when he met Marcelle in France, and married her just a year after landing on the Mediterranean coast of St. Tropez.

Upon settling in Vestal, the couple became community favorites because of their generosity and charity.

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Family’s history of charity inspires tournament fund-raiser