Marie S Steketee^[1]

1923 - 2007  (83 years)

• Name	Marie S Steketee
  Nickname	Mies
  Born	10 Nov 1923	Zeeland, Netherlands   [2, 3]
  Gender	Female
  Residence	27 Aug 1951	Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States   [2]
  Died	13 Feb 2007	Essex, Middlesex, Connecticut, United States   [3]
  Person ID	I8779329309	Master Tree
  Last Modified	5 May 2009

  
  

  Family	Rodney Newhold Landreth
  Children	1. Scott Landreth   2. Oliver L Landreth
  Last Modified	5 May 2009
  Family ID	F8026691265	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Born - 10 Nov 1923 - Zeeland, Netherlands Residence - 27 Aug 1951 - Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Died - 13 Feb 2007 - Essex, Middlesex, Connecticut, United States  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Sources

  [S8072387560] The New Britain Herald, http://www.newbritainherald.com. MARIE S. LANDRETH ESSEX - Marie S Landreth of Essex died on Feb. 13, 2007. Known as Mies, she was a well-traveled woman who, as the wife of a distinguished CIA officer for more than 30 years, lived in Thailand, Haiti, Ivory Coast, France, Hong Kong and Holland. She was always intensely interested in the cultures, and most importantly, in the arts each had to offer. Indeed, her eclectic collection from around the world is a testament to her acute appreciation and refined eye of local sculpture and painting. However, this rich life would not have been complete without the many characters she had come across during these times -- from the famous Marlon Brando (who came to a party at her house in Bangkok at the height of his career in 1953. He loved her chicken salad!) to the infamous Raul Castro with whom she danced at the U.S. Embassy in Havana in 1959. Miss Landreth was from the southern province of Zeeland, Holland. her father, Jan Steketee was incarcerated by the Nazis as a member of the Dutch underground. He propelled her to seek a life beyond the provincial borders of Holland. She found work as a secretary on Prince Bernhard's staff and subsequently took a similar position in the Duth Embassy in Stockholm. There, she met Rodney Landreth, whom she married and never looked back. From that point, the world was her oyster. She witnessed first-hand several coup d'etats, including the almost weekly ritual of a new "president for life" of Haiti until it ended with the accession to power of Papa Doc Duvalier in 1958. She was in Cuba when Fidel Castro took over in 1959. She lived in Paris in 1968 when a revolution was fomented, garbage was piled high in the streets and Charles de Gaulle was unceremoniously dumped. She was witness to power and greed, perhaps, but she was also a kind soul who befriended struggling young entrepreneurs like Jim Thompson with whom she had lunch everyday while in Bangkok in the 1950s long before his Thai silk business became an empire and his disappearance in the jungle of Malaysia became tabloid fare. The Landreths retired to Essex in 1979, where unfortunately Rod died in 1981. Mrs. Landreth was an active member of the Essex Yacht Club, a parishioner of St. John's Episcopal Church, a trustee of Essex Winter Series and a member of several local civic organizations. Mies is survived by her two sons, Scott of Houston, Texas, and Oliver of London, England, a sister Greetje Peereboorn and a brother, Jaap Steketee, both of Holland, as well as her long-time friend, Fenton L.B. Brown. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m., Tuesday, Feb. 20, at St. John's Episcopal Church, Main Street, Essex. Arrangements by Robinson, Wright & Weymer Funeral Home, Centerbrook. [S8072387558] New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, Ancestry.com, (Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006). [S8029498572] Social Security Death Index.