Monique J Cossard

Monique Cossard Life History Monique Desvaux Cossard was born on November 20, 1921 in Boissy St. Leger, France. She married Pierre Cossard in 1947, and their son Pierre-Yves was born. Monique’s husband died of endocarditis early in their marriage. While teaching French at the US Embassy in Paris she was offered a job as a French instructor at Maret School in Washington DC. She emigrated in 1951 with her four-year-old son, but found upon arriving that the Maret opening had been postponed. She settled in Washington DC and got a job teaching French at the US Department of State Foreign Service Institute Language and Area Training Center. In 1958 she was assigned to Nice, France where the Foreign Service Institute had a French language school for US diplomats. When the school was transferred to Paris, she went with it and was there for several years. She was then reassigned to the FSI School of Languages, which would move to Rosslyn, VA. Her reputation as a French teacher was widespread and she became Senior Instructor for the French department. In that role she made a number of official visits to oversees French language programs at US embassies and consulates, mostly in East Africa, and administrated French proficiency tests. She was promoted to Head of Romance languages at Foreign Service Institute, overseeing instructors in French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian. During her career she authored eight French textbooks, some with the assistance of Robert Salazar, most of which are still in use today. She was known as a strict taskmaster, but also empathetic and always ready to help instructors who would come to her with various personal problems. She would attempt to have them crack a smile by offering different Kleenex boxes, asking, “What color would you like”? She retired in 1984, spending up to 6 hours a day spring, summer and fall in her beloved garden, through her 99th birthday. In 1999, she married Frank Landt Dennis, a widower whom she had first met in Paris in the 1950’s. Frank retired as Assistant Managing Editor of the Washington Post, and was President and creator of the National Historical Wax Museum in Washington DC. He passed away in 2002 at the age of 94. Monique Cossard passed away in 2023 at the age of 101. She leaves a son; Pierre-Yves. Three grandsons; Xavier, Andrew and Guillaume. Three great-grandchildren; Virginia, Jasper, and Sienna. A short service will be held for Monique and Frank at the Riverbend on the Potomac Monday May 8, 2023 at 10am. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.murphy-fh.com for the Cossard family.