Nothing could slow Suzanne d’Autremont Gouvernet’s passion for the arts, not even a broken neck.
Once the noted local philanthropist was struck by a car while handing out flyers for a local opera. She suffered a broken neck.
Ms. Gouvernet, who died earlier this month, continued to show up at local arts performances and independent films at the Little Theatre as if nothing had happened. Her neck brace stretched to her shoulders, according to some of her friends.
“She was this little woman, but she was Ms. Energizer Bunny,” said her friend, Bonnie Garner. “She was very energetic always. She had so many quotes about how wonderful the arts are. She was a role model.”
Ms. Gouvernet died Sept. 1 at the age of 83. She was quietly one of the region’s leading arts supporters, both with her philanthropy and her persistent itch to turn friends and acquaintances into opera lovers.
“She single-handedly got me, and many others, I believe, to enjoy opera,” said Jennifer Leonard, the retired president of the Rochester Area Community Foundation. “She was a pied piper for the arts, a devoted supporter who always showed up, even when she was facing life’s challenges, including breaking her neck.”
A former actress, dancer, and singer, her local contributions to the arts included the Arts and Cultural Council, Finger Lakes Opera, the Junior League, Rochester Area Community Foundation, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Downstairs Cabaret Theatre, Geva Theatre, Memorial Art Gallery, and Eastman Opera, among others, according to an obituary from her family.
“She was just very generous, very sophisticated and knowledgeable about the arts and culture,” said Bruce Barnes, director of the George Eastman Museum, who sometimes accompanied Ms. Gouvernet to performances of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
Garner remembered how Ms. Gouvernet was the one who encouraged her, with tickets, to attend the Finger Lakes Opera performance of “Aida” with their mutual friend, Marilyn O’Connor.
“I was really impressed,” Garner said. “It was my first opera ever.”
This was typical of Ms. Gouvernet: Not only did she work to help the local arts stay on stable financial footing, but she constantly motivated others to embrace the breadth of arts offered in the Rochester-area community.
“She was kind and gracious to the performers — she had been one herself as a young woman — and found myriad ways to use her wealth to enable their often struggling nonprofit organizations to succeed,” Leonard said.
In her obituary, her family wrote, “Born in Boston but raised predominately in Manhattan after the loss of her father in World War II, Suzanne spent the last four decades sharing her time between Rochester and her late husband’s home country of France, where the two had a second residence. A perpetual traveler, she brought an undeniable wealth of worldly information wherever she went, was always ready to relay an experience, and was never without a relevant quote or saying to accompany any given conversation.”
“A graduate of the Brearley School in New York City and then Vassar College, Suzanne moved to Rochester with her family in 1982 and became a champion for the area’s arts and cultural community,” the obituary said.
Ms. Gouvernet was predeceased by her husband of 40 years, Gérard. She is survived by her brother, Charles and his wife Elena; her son, Philippe and daughter-in-law Shannah; and granddaughters, Ava and Genevieve.
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