Obituary
Long-time AFICS activist Helen Geffen Roht (“Geff”) dies at 93.
Helen Geffen Roht, a long time member of AFICS and head of its Committee on Ageing
for over a decade, died at home on 1 December 2010. She was 93 years old.
A memorial service will be held at 3 pm on Sunday, 12 December 2010 at the
RIVAA Art Gallery, 527 Main St. on Roosevelt Island. AFICS members who knew her
are welcome.
Helen was one of the few remaining original employees of the United Nations, where
she started work in 1946. She was a true New Yorker, with a great spirit of adventure
and a flair for drama. Helen grew up in the Bronx, and graduated from Hunter College
with a degree in French literature. She developed a love of all things French early in life,
which led to her first job as the manager of a French-language theater company in
Manhattan. In 1941, she joined the war effort, crossing from New York to London on the
last civilian ship to make it through the U-Boat blockade. In London, she worked for the
U.S. government broadcasting war-related information to France. She survived the
bombing of her office and apartment, and collaborated with the French resistance. She
moved to Paris upon its liberation, and there she spent time with photographers and
painters before returning home. Soon after returning to New York, she moved abroad
again, to Mexico, where she worked on literacy programs and enjoyed the bohemian life.
In 1946 she returned to New York after receiving an offer to work for the newly formed
United Nations. She worked as a translator, editor and précis writer for the UN until her
retirement. Through her UN post, she lived in Chile in 1967-68, and traveled all over the
world together with her husband, George. She was known around the UN as “Geff.”
In her sixties, she became interested in the then-emerging field of gerontology, and
obtained a Masters’ degree from Columbia University on the subject. She was a longtime member and active participant in the Association of Former International Civil
Servants (AFICS). Helen organized seminars for AFICS on topics related to graceful
aging for over a decade. Her seminars attracted over a hundred participants at times,
on topics ranging from retirement planning to remaining physically fit in retirement – this
last seminar included ballroom dancing and tai-chi demonstrations! Helen was herself a
marvel of graceful aging. Her dedication to AFICS and her hard work on behalf of the
organization will be missed.
Helen was married for over 40 years to George Roht, who died in 1999. She is
survived by her daughter Naomi Roht-Arriaza, a professor of law at the University of
California, Hastings in San Francisco, and by her grandchildren Laura and Rafael.