Solange S. Du Boff | Teacher, 70

Solange Soubieille Du Boff, of Haverford, a language teacher for 35 years, died of complications of Alzheimer's disease Oct. 6 at Bryn Mawr Hospital, five days before her 71st birthday.

Mrs. Du Boff was living in Pontorson, France, in 1944 when the Normandy town was liberated by American soldiers. The 8-year-old told her family she wanted to learn English because she was frustrated that she couldn't speak with the soldiers, said her husband, Richard Du Boff. She eventually earned degrees in English and philology at the University of Bordeaux.

In 1961, she came to the United States to teach French and to pursue graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, where she met her future husband.

After earning a master's degree in romance languages, Mrs. Du Boff was a French instructor at Rosemont College for six years. From 1973 until retiring in 1998, she taught French and Spanish at Episcopal Academy in Merion. She studied at colleges in New England for two summers on National Defense fellowships and for many years was an instructor in French, history and theater at the graduate French summer program at Millersville University. In 1988 and 1989, she codirected the French-American Institute for International Studies in Nice, France, and in Corsica.

In 1994, she was awarded the Diploma Superior de Español from Salamanca University in Spain in recognition of her accomplishments teaching Spanish.

Mrs. Du Boff was a former member of the Middle States Accreditation Committee for foreign languages.

She loved vacationing in her native France, her husband said, and film and theater, which she integrated into her classes. She enjoyed crossword puzzles and created French puzzles for her students, he said.

In addition to her husband, Mrs. Du Boff is survived by a daughter, Amanda Vermillion; a brother and a sister.

Funeral services were private.