Louis F.V. Mercier

06/07/2001

Louis Francois Valliot Mercier, 86, of Long Lots Road, Westport, Conn., father of Jean Evangeline Whitehead of Great Barrington, died Thursday at Berkshire Medical Center. Born in Washington, D.C., on April 10, 1915, son of Louis J.A. and Zoe Lassagne Mercier, he grew up in Cambridge and graduated from Boston College in 1936. He moved to Westport in 1955. Mr. Mercier worked at the Newton Herald, the Bridgeport Telegram and for Parade magazine from 1937 to 1941. From 1942 to 1945, he worked in the Office of War Information in London and Paris as chief of the pictorial section, Psychological Warfare Division, Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces. Following the war, he moved to New York City, where he was employed by Look magazine. He then became picture editor at Holiday magazine from 1946 to 1965. From 1965 to 1990, he was an independent agent for the editorial and commercial photographers. Upon his retirement, he reviewed books for Publishers' Weekly. His wife, the former Jean Frances Doyle, whom he married May 8, 1948, in New York, died in 1998. Besides his daughter, he leaves another daughter, Madeleine Zoe Mercier of Austin, Texas; three sisters, Marie-Zoe Green-Mercier of Chicago, Louise Mercier of Cambridge and Jeanne Mercier of Chevy Chase, Md.; a brother, Edmond Mercier of Chevy Chase, and two grandchildren. Another daughter, Catherine L. Mercier, died in 1981. The funeral will be private. There will be no calling hours. Donations may be made to the St. Labre Indian School in care of FINNERTY & STEVENS FUNERAL HOME, 426 Main St., Great Barrington, MA 01230. Remembrances, memories and reflections for the Mercier family may also be sent to finnfh@bcn.net.

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