Ms. Gladys Filippone
Gladys C. Filippone, a longtime Paramus teacher, died Nov. 24 [1987] while traveling in Paris. The Fair Lawn resident was 62.
Before retiring in 1982, she taught French at Paramus High School for 23 years. She was a member of the Bergen County, the New Jersey, and the National educational associations.
Ms. Filippone was a founder of the Future Teachers of America, the Association of University Women in Paramus, and the Paramus Environmental Council.
She was treasurer of the Modern Language Association and was a member of the American Association of Teachers of French. She was a member of the Bergen County Retired Teachers Association and the French Alliance of Women of Bergen County.
She was also active in the Passaic River Coalition.
Ms. Filippone was graduated from Bucknell University and was a member of its Alumni Association. She also was graduated from the Sorbonne, Paris, and earned a master's degree from Middlebury (Vt.) College.
Surviving is a brother, Francis, of Westfield.
Donations to the scholarship fund of the Association of University Women or to the Bergen County Retired Educators Association would be appreciated.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/264003193/gladys_c_filippone
Tony Berardo (1965)
MS. Gladys Filippone and Ms Bellina were my inspirations for languages. I entered Paramus HS in my Senior year after moving from Queens, NY because my father's business moved to NJ. In NY I attended a private HS, Delehanty for three years and began learning French and loved it .At 16 I received a Certificate of Merit from the American Association of Teachers of French. Ms Filippone was a member of this organisation and was impressed when I told her. She encouraged me to study more languages. I began studying Italian (with Ms Bellina) and Spanish at Paramus HS and loved it. I took all of Ms Filippone's Advanced French classes and loved them. She made them so interesting especially French literature. When I was waiting in line to receive my diploma (class of '65) she came up to me and told me don't give up my language studies at Rutgers. I took her advice and Majored in Linguistics at Rutgers and was the second linguistics graduate(class of '69) in the University ( Rutgers developed the Linguistics curriculum only the year before).
In 1970 and 1971 I was a foreign language subsitute teacher at Paramus HS and Eastbrook Middle School for French, Spanish and Italian.
But I wanted more and remembered what Ms Filippone said to me to keep up studying my languages So I took the chance of applying in 1972 to the United Nation's Translation Division and took the language tests and passed and was hired. Later, I learned Brazilian Portuguese.
I worked for the UN for over 30 years and traveled all over the world attending conferences and meeting Heads of State and a lot of interesting people of all nationalities. I never stopped thinking about Ms Filippone all that time. She would have been proud of me and I am ever so grateful to her for the encourgement.
I retired from the UN in 2003 and moved to CA
Thank you Ms Filippone for making my life wonderful!!
Anthony Berardo-class of '65