Jean-François Reymond from Geneva, Switzerland, former Executive Secretary, World Alliance of YMCAs died at the age of 94 last October 22nd 2013.
He worked during nearly 39 years (1945-1984) with the World Alliance of YMCAs as Executive Secretary.
He worked from 1945 to 1949 as a field secretary of the World Alliance with displaced persons and prisoners of war in Austria. He then held many different positions: Associate Organizing Secretary for the 1955 World Centennial Conference in Paris in 1955, Secretary for International Affairs, Secretary for Archives and Documentation Services, Assistant to the Secretary general.
During these so many years (1945-1984) he had been some kind of Swiss ambassador in Switzerland for World Alliance staff from abroad.
Jean-François Reymond was married to Alice Johannot who through her family had strong ties with the World Alliance which spans three generations: her great-grandfather was a founding member of the Geneva YMCA, her grandfather was treasure of the World’s Committee and her father an Executive Secretary from 1923 to 1948.
He retired from the Word Alliance of YMCAs in 1984 but was still regularly in contact with our present archivist Claude-Alain Danthe who said about him : “he was a living history of our movement, he taught me so many things about the history of the YMCA, and always in very lively and interesting manner, one can feel his passion about our movement”.
We want to express to his wife and to all his family our sincere condolences.