Obituary of Ronda Gould)

93, of Grand Pré, passed away Tuesday February 26, 2008 at her home. Born February 24, 1915 in Cannes France, she was the daughter of the late Howard Gould and famous stage actress in London England, Doris Keane. Her early life was quite solitary, a theme that would follow her throughout - and would form her strengths - and was centered around attendance at several boarding schools in England, with interludes at her father's country home. She later attended the University of London and graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Her RADA cohort included notable performers such as Vivien Leigh, who starred in Gone With the Wind, and others who became well-known stage and screen actors. During World War II she studied draftsmanship and worked for the war effort drafting parts for fighter aircraft. She also wrote and performed in plays to entertain the troops throughout England and even had one play canceled in mid-performance when the theatre was bombed! She crossed the Atlantic twice to visit her mother, who was ill in New York. On one of those trips half of the ships in her convoy were sunk by U-Boats. After the war she became ill with tuberculosis and underwent several periods of treatment in Saranac, New York. During one of these periods she met her future husband, Dr. Carl Muschenheim, a prominent physician in New York City. They married in 1950 and their only child, Dwight Keane (Kee) Muschenheim was born in 1953. Ronda and Carl became interested in the Native American cultures of the southwest and made several trips to the region. They joined the Association on American Indian Affairs and worked to better living conditions and health services for Native Americans. Ronda also conceived of, and directed, a not-for-profit outlet for native art, craftwork and jewelry in New York City, which ran successfully for ten years. Following the death of her husband, Carl, in 1977 Ronda moved from New York City to Lyme, Connecticut and indulged her passion for painting. She took courses at, and eventually became a trustee of, the Lyme Academy. At the Lyme Academy she also curated a very successful exhibition of southwest Native American and arctic Canadian and American Inuit art. The opening address for the show was given in December, 1987 by James Houston, the great Canadian artist/designer and facilitator of Inuit art, whom Ronda had known from the time she had run the outlet in New York. In 1995, at the age of eighty, Ronda emigrated to Grand Pré, Nova Scotia to be close to her son, daughter-in-law and grandson. There she had many pleasurable years of gardening, family visits and trips to the Atlantic Theatre Festival. Ronda is survived by her son, Dwight Keane (Kee) Muschenheim, daughter-in-law, Marlene (Marty) Snyder and grandson, Walter (Walt) Collier Muschenheim, all of Wolfville; stepson, Dr. Frederick Muschenheim of Wayzata, Minnesota; step-grand children, Dr. Alexandra Muschenheim, William Muschenheim and David Muschenheim; step-great-grandchildren, Danny, Michael, Linda and Sophie, of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota; step-grandchildren, Laura Perrone, Michael Perrone and Anna Perrone Lodi, step-great-grandchildren, Maxim, Tishna and Dean, of New York City. Ronda also has five godchildren in England, with whom she had stayed in touch for many decades. Besides her parents, Ronda was predeceased by her husband, Carl; her stepdaughter, Linda Perrone and her husband, Mario Perrone. Cremation has taken place under the care and direction of H.C. Lindsay Funeral Home 568 Main St., Wolfiville (902-542-2151). A celebration of Ronda's life will take place in early summer. Interment will take place on Martha's Vineyard Island, Massachusetts at a later date. An announcement will be made when the service is arranged. Donations in Mrs. Muschenheim's memory may be made to the Lyme Academy in Connecticut, 84 Lyme Street Old Lyme Ct., 06371 or to a charity of choice. Private condolences to the family may be sent by visiting: www.hclindsayfuneralhome.ca