For Donez’s friends and loved ones who
are unable to attend her Memorial Service in person the Service will
be lived streamed please click on one of the links
below;
Facebook: www.facebook.com/stgeo07040/ –
and you don’t need a facebook account to watch
or
Youtube : www.youtube.com/channel/UCrIv7ADra2FQhTrck-JaC8w
Donez M. Xiques,
Ph.D.
Donez M. Xiques of South Orange, New Jersey and
Malignant Cove, Antigonish County, died on Friday March 27, 2020 at
Overlook Hospital in Summit, N.J. The causes of death were
complications from heart disease. She is survived by her
wife and partner of forty-five years, Dr. Judith Chelius Stark of
South Orange, N.J.
Dr. Xiques was born on April 30, 1936 in Staten
Island, N.Y. She was the first-born child of William A.
Xiques, D.D.S. and Donez Xiques (nee Berardini) Xiques. She
was predeceased by her parents and two brothers William and
Michael. She is also survived by her two sisters:
Nadine Yurko (Roger) and Adrienne Caldwell (William) both of Missouri
City, TX. She was the much-beloved aunt of ten nieces and
nephews as well as twelve great nieces and
nephews.
Dr. Xiques was educated at Notre Dame Academy in
Staten Island and then joined the religious order of the Congregation
of Notre Dame in Montreal. She served in the Congregation as
a teacher and then as director of admissions at Notre Dame
College. She received a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in American
literature from Fordham University in the late 1960s. She
then left the Congregation in 1972. From 1970 until 2006 Dr. Xiques
taught American literature at Brooklyn College of the City of New York
where she was a beloved professor and writer. In 2004, Dr.
Xiques published a ground-breaking biography of the Canadian author
Margaret Laurence. Published by Dundurn Press of Toronto, it
is entitled, Margaret Laurence: The Making of a Writer. Dr.
Xiques was an accomplished photographer and an avid birder who enjoyed
nature in every season in places near and far. At the time
of her death, she was working on a monograph focusing on the value and
beauty of South Mountain Reservation in Es County,
N.J.
Dr. Xiques and Dr.
Stark spent forty summers at their Caboose-by-the-Sea at Malignant
Cove, Nova Scotia where they enjoyed kayaking, swimming, and excellent
birding. Over the years, they were blessed with many loving
family members and dear friends with whom they shared innumerable
happy times. Donez’s absence will be felt deeply
by the many people who knew and loved her.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of
Preston Funeral home in South Orange, N.J.
(prestonfuneralhome.net.)
Celebrations of Donez’s life will be
held at St. George’s Episcopal Church 550 Ridgewood Road in
Maplewood, N.J on Saturday, October 2, 2021 at 11:00
AM.
Memorial donations may be made to the New Jersey
Audubon Society in loving memory of Dr. Xiques and in acknowledgement
of her deep love for nature. Donations may also be made to
St. George’s Episcopal Church, Maplewood, N.J. in gratitude
to the loving church community that supported her during her life and
in death or to South Mountain Conservancy.
Tribute Donation Page at
www.njaudubon.org
Hosted locally as a courtesy to Preston Funeral
Home, South Orange, New Jersey
1936 2020
Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de Donez Xiques 1936 2020..
Décès pour la Ville: Antigonish, Province: Nova Scotia