Raymonde Girard Djokic

Raymonde Girard Djokic of New Hope departed earthly life on July 23, 2022, at age 96 surrounded by her loving family.

Raymonde was born in the beautiful ancient city of Metz in the French province of Lorraine. Her girlhood was interrupted by the German invasion on June 17, 1940, when German troops entered Metz. Whereas Germany occupied other parts of France, Alsace-Lorraine was incorporated into the Greater German Reich. Practically overnight Raymonde’s teachers were replaced by instructors from Germany who compelled all students to learn German so that all subjects be taught in that language. Raymonde lived out the war occupied by schoolwork and helping her widowed mother run the family business. There were the enforced blackouts and the occasional nights spent in the air raid shelters, but life was somewhat tolerable. The RAF largely spared the city limiting their bombing missions to the rail yards, Airfield and German military assets in the Sablon district. The U.S. Third Army liberated Metz on Dec. 13, 1944.

Four days after VE Day, 1945, Raymonde met Lt. Pierre Djokic who was to become her husband. At the end of 1948 the couple and their two young sons moved to the city of Nancy where Pierre was appointed director of public relations and civilian employment at the newly built Haye Forest U.S. military base. Later Pierre and Raymonde decided to make their home in America. They arrived in New York on board the legendary ocean liner “Ile de France” on July 7, 1952, settling in Trenton, N.J. Together they raised seven accomplished children. Pierre and Raymonde moved to Lambertville in 1979 and again to New Hope in 1983 where they forged many strong lifelong friendships. Raymonde had the gift of making each one of her friends feel special to her. A deeply spiritual person, she highlighted by word and deed the importance of humility and seeing the good in others. She enjoyed preparing delicious dinners which were a creative blend of French and American influences for family and friends, corresponding with relatives and friends in the States, France, Spain, Austria and Serbia and travel with her husband. Raymonde loved nature and tending her garden flowers and plants. She was often consulted on how to get an ailing plant on the mend. She and Pierre were active and appreciated members of the congregations of St. Gregory Palamas and St. Mark’s Orthodox churches.

Raymonde was the beloved wife of the late Pierre Djokic and the mother of the late Zoran Djokic. She is survived by her children and their spouses, Alexandre Djokic of Doylestown, Pa., Vesna Djokic-Gamez and her husband Manuel Gamez of New City, N.Y., Philippe Djokic and his wife Lynn Stodola Djokic of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Monique Girard and her partner Ted Cox of Brooklyn, N.Y., Pierre Djokic of Quebec, Canada, and Michelle Djokic and her husband Mark Talbott of Sand City, Calif.; her daughter-in-law Venetia Kontgouris of Weston, Conn.; her 13 grandchildren and her five great-grandchildren. At the time of her passing Raymonde was looking forward to the arrival of her sixth great-grandchild.

Requiem services were held on Tuesday, July 26, at St. Mark’s Orthodox Church, 452 Durham Road, Wrightstown, PA 18940. Interment: Mt. Airy Church Cemetery in Lambertville, N.J.

In lieu of flowers, Raymonde would prefer that donations be made to St. Mark’s Orthodox Church, 452 Durham Road, Newtown, PA 18940, St. Gregory Palamas Orthodox Church, 5 Church St, Glen Gardner, N.J. 08826, or St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, PO Box 130, South Canaan, PA 18459 (info@stots.edu).

Arrangements are under the direction of the Van Horn-McDonough Funeral Home, Lambertville, New Jersey 08530 (vhmfh.com).

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