Madeleine Moon Kreitzer, 88, of Lexington Park died June 27, 2008, at Sunrise Senior Living Center in Annapolis, MD.

Born April 8, 1920, in Antwerp, Belgium, she was the daughter of the late Louis B. Moon and Yvonne Coutin Moon.

She was a longtime lab instructor at St. Mary's College of Maryland.

She entered the United States through Ellis Island in December 1925. Her mother was originally a French citizen and her father was an officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. As a child she lived throughout the United States as the family followed her father's military career. She attended St. Joseph's College in Emmitsburg on a scholarship and after graduation worked at military medical laboratories in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Key West, FL.

She met her husband, William Rutherford Kreitzer, in Savannah, GA., where they both attended high school. They married on Oct. 23, 1943, in Key West, FL.

They had seven children and as a Navy family were stationed in San Francisco, CA, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Portsmouth, VA.; Newport, RI and Washington, DC. She worked for the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center and co-authored a study of salmonella that was published in three issues of Applied Microbiology.

She and her family moved to St. Mary's County in 1969, and she completed her master's degree in microbiology at the University of Maryland. She was a chemistry lab instructor at St. Mary's College of Maryland for more than 15 years, retiring in 1986. A chemistry lab at the college's new Goodpastor Hall was named in her honor in 2007. A former student, David Burdette, donated the funding for the lab with the stipulation that is be named for her, citing her as an "inspirational chemistry lab instructor, mentor and friend."

After her retirement from the college she and her husband joined the Peace Corps, serving from 1986 to 1988 in Belize, where she worked at the Good Shepherd Clinic, offering free health services to the residents of San Jose Succotz, a community near the Guatemala border.

In retirement she and her husband traveled widely in North and South America and Asia. After returning to St. Mary's from her Peace Corps service, she was a substitute teacher in the public schools, mostly at Great Mills High School. She was the longtime president of the local chapter of the American Association of University Women, volunteered at Historic St. Mary's City and was the community co-chair of the Restoration Advisory Board for Patuxent River Naval Air Station.
She was preceded in death by her husband, who died on March 25, 2007. In addition to her parents, she was also preceded in death by her brother, Russell Moon.

She is survived by her seven children; Susan Norlund of Frazier Park, CA, Thomas Richard Kreitzer of Lovettsville, VA.; Nancy Kreitzer of Huntingtown, MD; Joan Ellis of Kingston, NY; Katy Kreitzer Boyd of Leonardtown, MD; Robert E. Kreitzer of Bangor, ME; and Janet Kreitzer of Santa Cruz, CA. She is also survived by 10 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Madeleine will be especially remembered for her love of people, laughter and love of life.

The family will receive friends for Madeleine's Life Celebration on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Brinsfield Funeral Home, 22955 Hollywood Road, Leonardtown, MD 20650. Prayers will be recited at 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 11 a.m. in St. John Vianney Catholic Church, 105 Vianney Lane, Prince Frederick, MD 20678. Reverend Peter J. Daly will be the celebrant. Interment will be in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 11 a.m.

Memorial contributions may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters at 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan 49221-1793 or the AAUW "Dare to Dream" Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 216, St. Leonard, MD 20685.

Arrangements by the Brinsfield Funeral Home, P.A., Leonardtown, MD.