- Date Of Birth: September 27, 1927
- Date Of Death: June 6, 2011
- State: Connecticut
Mary Pentcheff died on June 6, 2011 in Southbury, Connecticut at her home, the Watermark at East Hill.
Mary was born in 1927 in Crosby, a suburb of Liverpool, England, the child of Roy and Dorothy Dean. Her childhood was idyllic until the advent of World War II in 1939. At that time she was a boarding student at Dr. Williams’ School in Dolgellau, Wales. In 1945 she attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. Until 1952 she was continuously employed in repertory theatre, performing a full range of roles from Shakespeare to bedroom farce.
During that time, she was seen on the stage by a Bulgarian diplomat, Nicolas Pentcheff, who pursued her all the way to the altar. Nicolas became an exile from his country when Bulgaria came under communist domination. Mary and Nicolas owned and managed a small farm in Surrey from 1952 until 1956, when Nicolas was offered a job at Radio Free Europe in New York.
On arriving in New York, Mary took a job as a tour guide in the Secretariat of the United Nations, where she spent the rest of her career. Through her hard work, meticulous organizational skill, and broad knowledge of international affairs, she rose to become Chief of Information, Delegates’ Aide and Reception.
In 1961, Dean, her only child, was born. In 1963, Mary and her family moved to the suburban town of Ardsley, New York.
Memorials: Amnesty International USA, 5 Penn Plaza, NY, NY 10001, Episcopal Relief and Development, P.O. Box 7058, Merrifield, VA 22116, US Fund for UNICEF, 125 Maiden Lane, NY, NY 10038, Alzheimer’s Disease Research, 22512 Gateway Center Drive, Clarksburg, MD 20871,
