Valerie Bremner was born in Sverdlovsk, in the Siberian region of the Soviet Union (now Yekaterinburg, Russia) on September 4, 1944, to a Ukrainian mother and Polish father. First raised in Latvia, then Poland, she emigrated to the United States with her family as a teenager. Since then, she has lived in London, Moscow, and Paris, before finally settling back in New York for good.

Valerie lived an extraordinary life of international adventure, love, and learning. Her good-natured friendliness and curiosity opened many doors as she traveled to every corner of the world, often with no plan but an openness to whatever might come her way. Her love of travel often enriched the lives of the people she loved and the students she taught, whether by bringing them along on her journeys or sharing her stories with them.

Her professional life was many-faceted; from working as a guide at the United Nations at 18, to pursuing a doctorate in Slavic languages at New York University, to teaching, to translation, and interpretation–drawing on the many languages she spoke. Most of all, she treasured the more than 30 years she spent at the United Nations International School, filling many roles, all of which involved working closely with students.

Given all that she saw and accomplished, it would be easy to define Valerie by her worldliness and erudition, but what she was ultimately known for was her beautiful nature. Her kindness, generosity, charm, and insistence on seeing the best in people and in the world around her were remarked upon by everyone whose lives she touched. She was adored by all who knew her.

She is survived by a wonderful family that meant the world to her: her loving husband, Ryszard Golembiowski; her children, both biological and by marriage, all of whom she considered her own: Anna Bremner and her husband Chad, Ania Chrostowski and her husband Emil, Przemyslaw Golembiowski and his wife Beata, Ewa Golembiowski, and Lucasz Golembiowski and his wife Krystal; her grandchildren Alex, Sarah, Hunter, Bennett, Helena, and Aniela; her dear sister Gale (Galunia) Kaplan and her husband Jeff, her nephew Eric and his wife Claire, and his children, Jacob and Cassidy.

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