Nicolle Suzanne Masser's Obituary
Nicolle Suzanne Masser (nee Oury), died on August 18, 2023 in San Diego, California at the age of 91. She was born in Saint Calais, France, the oldest of four children of Andre Oury and Agnes (Manceau) Oury. Her siblings, Jacques, Philippe and Solange, all died before her in their 40s, 50s and 60s respectively. Her childhood was shadowed by World War II, living in Occupied France. She lived with her family above the family’s charcuterie (pork butcher) in Orleans. In 1954, she met and married Richard Masser, her husband of 62 years.
In 1955, Nicolle and Richard moved to Toronto, then Atlanta, then Cleveland, eventually making their way to Southern California. Over the years, her thick French accent was Nicolle’s calling card and never changed.
Nicolle was passionate about making family meals. She was never afraid of butter, salt or sugar and everyone praised her cooking (even the microwaved turkey). Like all good French families, our family dinner every night included a meat, at least 2-3 vegetables, and perhaps a starch, as well bread (preferably a good baguette but those were nearly impossible to find), a green salad, followed by cheese and maybe fruit. Good bread was a requirement at every meal, so much so that she would carry bread in her purse to Chinese restaurants. Her kids and grandkids have carried forward her cooking style and still cook from recipes written down 40+ years ago and we are all baguette snobs.
Nicolle loved to dance and loved music. She learned all the popular dances of her time, the Foxtrot, the Samba, the Rumba, and even tried Hula dancing! Whenever there was a good beat, you could be sure she would be moving, a trait inherited by her daughter.
She got her baccalaureat in France in business and worked on and off in the US, first as a keypunch operator and later as a bookkeeper, when she wasn’t making investments (property, stock market, loans) or taking care of kids. At one point, she considered becoming a nutritionist and took classes at the local community college.
Nicolle and Richard had two children, purposely 9 years apart because she decided there was no way she wanted to manage two small people at the same time. Philippe now lives in Boise, Idaho with his wife Kate (who was at Meme’s side at the time of her death). Through them, Nicolle had two grandchildren, Andrew (wife Christine) and Julianne (husband Brendon) and two great grandchildren, Annabelle and Kate Grace. Diane lives in San Diego with her husband Dave. Through them, Nicolle had two more grandchildren, Madeleine and Richard. Both of Nicolle’s children ended up working in the medical field.
Once Diane and Philippe were raised and Richard had retired from diamond setting, Nicolle and Richard traveled as far as Tasmania (a favorite) and as close as the California desert. They frequently took road trips all over the US in their camper and there are 1000s of photos to show for it.
In recent years, as dementia set in, Nicolle moved to Summerhouse at Wesley Palms. Her family is forever grateful to the kind and patient staff who provided care for her for the last 20 months. We are also grateful for the compassionate care of Cabrillo hospice who worked hard to keep her comfortable in her final days.
No services are planned at this time. For those interested in making a charitable contribution in her memory, her favorite charities were Doctors without Borders and Father Joe’s Village. Her family also suggests a contribution to your local hospice organization.
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