Mimi Dimeling Girard, 84, Died; Former Westport Teacher

Madeline (Mimi) Dimeling Girard, age 84, recently of Long Island, NY, passed away on 9/13/2022.

Mimi was born on 6/21/1938, a day she insisted meant that summer could start. This is probably how her fervent interest in plants started.

Mimi met Lucien Girard III at Penn State University where they both earned Master's degrees. They were married on September 1st, 1962 in Westport, CT where Mimi was employed as a teacher. They then started a world tour, with destinations including Morocco, Ghana, and quite a few states in the US, with longer stints in Evergreen, CO and Royal Oak, MD.

Hugs and Kisses was the first, a small puppy that Mimi tried to keep quiet while grocery shopping. There are many other tales of dog exploits including one slapstick encounter Bradshaw had with a trailing dishwasher rack hooked in his dog collar.

The chapter on Ghana, has far too many excellent stories to tell, and includes her teaching, supporting local organizations and families, designing functional kitchens that were adopted in future builds, and pushing the local wicker man with her latest grand designs.

In Royal Oak, Mimi and Lu settled down to a different type of travel - Galapagos, cross Atlantic sailing, along with the occasional kayak during the DFR with the hoards that invaded. Mimi continued to be a terror on the tennis court along with organizing the Christmas parade in St. Michaels.

Throughout these stories weaves a tangle of different plants including an oleander the dog ate (both survived), working with botanists in Ghana to find the latest catch of a rare bloom, and helping revive wayward orchids in MD.

Mimi is survived by her brother George, her two sisters Dee and Carol; two sons, Peter and his wife, Michele, of CO, and Matthew and his wife, Andrea, of NY; and five wonderful grandchildren.

Services will be held at Crown Crest Cemetery in Clearfield, PA on November 19th at 10am. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Easton Garden club or to your local Red Cross.