Storrs, Marguerite Deville Chabrol

French-born author and wife of sculptor John Henry Bradley Storrs.

Marguerite Deville Chabrol Storrs was born June 2, 1881 in Saint-Jean-de-la-Ruelle, in the Loiret department of central France near the city of Orléans. Her parents, Paul Henri and Emma Deville Chabrol, married in 1877 and had one other daughter, Jenny Deville Chabrol. Paul Henri Deville Chabrol came from a military family, and served in the Franco-Prussian War before settling down in Orléans to work in commerce. Paul Henri's brother Jules Deville Chabrol served in the French military during Algeria's colonization, and chronicled his experiences there through letters and memoirs. In 1914 Marguerite Deville Chabrol Storrs met and married the American sculptor John Henry Bradley Storrs, who had come to Paris to study with Auguste Rodin. Their daughter Monique was born in 1918, and in 1921 the couple purchased the Chateau de Chanticaille in Mer, France, their primary residence, though they traveled often to the United States. Marguerite Storrs published many novellas, short stories and art reviews under the pseudonym Marc Debrol, and also worked as a reporter for French newspapers. She and John Storrs traveled frequently between Chanticaille and the United States, primarly Chicago, where John Storrs had grown up and his family still lived. In 1939, the family returned to France after a trip abroad, and spent the entirety of World War II at Chanticaille. Both John Storrs and Monique Storrs Booz were imprisoned by the Germans, and Marguerite Storrs was nearly executed. After the war, Marguerite Storrs worked diligently to contact the relatives of some British soldiers who died when their aircraft was shot down near Chanticaille, and ensure the soldiers had a proper burial. After John Storrs' death 1956, Marguerite Storrs lived with her daughter Monique Storrs Booze in Winnetka, Illinois, where she died in 1959 at the age of 78. Monique Storrs Booz (also known as Monica) spent most of her childhood in boarding schools in Chicago and Orléans, France, away from her parents. While living with her parents in France during World War II, she was involved in the French Resistance and worked for the French Red Cross before French collaborators denounced her and she was arrested by the Gestapo. After spending 21 days in jail, Monique Storrs Booz was released, and went on to assist the U.S. Army as an interpreter and translator during the final days of the war. She was awarded a Croix de guerre from the French government and received a commendation from the U.S. Army for her efforts. She later worked in the Paris office of the U.S. Army's Air Transport Command. After the war she met and married Donald Booz, an American, and the couple settled in the Chicago area. They had three children, Michelle, Edwin, and John. Monique Storrs Booz died in Winnetka, Il in 1985.

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