- Date Of Birth: October 27, 1930
- Date Of Death: July 17, 2023
- State: Pennsylvania
Antoinette Pressey, 92, died peacefully at her long-time family home in Newtown Square on July 17, 2023.
She was born Antoinette Burgdorfer on October 27, 1930 in the rural Swiss village of Schwarzenegg. Her father named her after a Swiss mountain flower known as ‘toni’. She enjoyed an independent childhood with her older brother, Albert, moving freely through the surrounding countryside and forests with little to no adult supervision. When she was ten years old her mother gave birth to twin boys, her brothers Hans and Ernst. She was thrilled to become an older sister, and years later, when she moved to Zurich, she used a portion of her first paycheck to purchase two turtles which she had sent back home to them. At a time and place when educational opportunities were primarily reserved for boys, and against the advice and counsel of her family and even the family doctor, she insisted on continuing with her secondary education. It was a seven mile bicycle ride to the secondary school in Steffisburg, downhill in the morning, uphill on the way home. In winter, with snow on the roads, it sometimes took her and her schoolmates two hours to make the journey. After secondary school, she attended the Lycee Jean-Piaget in Neuchatel Switzerland where she studied business and textiles. In later years she would remember her time in Neuchatel and the friends she made there with special fondness. When she was twenty, she moved to the center of Zurich where she worked as the secretary for the alumni association of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) where her brother Albert studied engineering. She made many contacts through the network of alumni and enjoyed a rich social life during her time there.
With the support of her family and her devoted assistant, Josephine Chesson, she was able to continue living in her home until the very end of her life.
Her passing is a huge loss for everyone who knew her. She was predeceased by her son Mark Pressey in 2006, her husband Donald Pressey in 2016, and her older brother, Albert. She is survived by her devoted son Eric, her beloved daughter-in-law Jennifer, her brothers Hans and Ernst, her many nieces, and her two cats, Blackie and Graysie.
