Babette Marie-Louise Collée Gold of Scarsdale, NY died peacefully with family by her side on November 3, 2018 at her daughter’s home. Born in The Hague on January 15, 1928, she was the eldest child of François Collée, a prominent hatmaker, and Augenie Caroline Marie (Savelberg) Collée. She grew up in Holland and Belgium, living through the German occupation in WW2, and spoke four languages. She met Charles Zbyněk Gold when she was twenty, and they married in the Netherlands on July 16, 1955. Babette and Zbyněk, as he was known, emigrated to the U.S. that same year and began their family and a new life together in New York.
Babette was a devoted parishioner of Immaculate Heart of Mary in Scarsdale, New York, where her children all attended school. She was a Eucharistic Minister at White Plains Hospital for 32 years. She was a member of the Scarsdale Women’s Club and the Inner Wheel Club President. An avid tennis player, Babette also enjoyed playing bridge with her friends, as well as card and board games with her children and grandchildren.
Babette is predeceased by her parents, François Collée and Augenie Caroline Marie Collée; her husband, Charles Zbyněk Gold and son, Alexander François Gold, along with three brothers, Louis, Franz, and Guus Collée, and a nephew, Barend Kerstens. She is lovingly remembered by her children, Patricia (Anthony) Raffa (Eastchester, NY), Caroline (David Pavone) Gold (Haddam, CT), Marie-Louise (Gregory H.) McKeon (Brewster, NY), Babette (Nicasio G) Arroyo (Darien, CT), Zbyněk (Lucia) Gold (Somers, NY), and Anne-Marie (Stephen) Hultin (Sudbury, MA); son-in-law Vincent Yackery; grandchildren Luke Raffa; Christina and Alex Yackery and Claire (Darrid) Sharkey; Gregory R. McKeon; Charles (Cooley) and Nicasio S. (Sachee) Arroyo; Catherine (Jesse) Aprile, Kristen, Jennifer, Zbyněk and Faith Gold; Stephen, Caroline, Françoise, Julia and Alexia Hultin; and one great-granddaughter, Holland Arroyo; her surviving siblings, Anne-Marie Kerstens and Marcel Collée, as well as her many friends and extended family in New York and abroad.
Visitation will be on Wednesday, Nov. 7 from 4:00 - 8:00 PM. at the WESTCHESTER FUNERAL HOME, Eastchester, NY. Mass of Christian Burial, Thursday, Nov. 8 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Scarsdale, NY at 10:00 AM followed by interment at Holy Mount Cemetery in Eastchester. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Babette’s honor to Doctors Without Borders at https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/.