Skip to main content

News

Obituary: Charlotte Klotzman

Friday 16 January 2015

Charlotte Klotzman (photo), personal assistant to Glen Renfrew throughout his years in charge of Reuters North America as it was then known and on into the first part of his term as Reuters managing director, died aged 98.

She passed away on Tuesday 13 January following a few days in hospital for treatment of breathing difficulties.

Treating everyone with polite grace, she was the consummate gatekeeper, office manager, social secretary and anchor for Renfrew at a time when the company was going through dramatic change, Michael Reilly recalls.

“No small accomplishment this, when one considers Glen's encyclopaedic knowledge, technology bent (he also ran the global Technical Development Committee at this time) and photographic memory. Room for error was non-existent, of course, and Charlotte saved many a brash novice from serious missteps when they first encountered the MD one on one.

“He moved back and forth between New York and London for a time and Charlotte took to the demands of this trans-Atlantic existence, extended days and the dramatic change in his office without a slip.”

Dorothy Delman, a colleague in the Manhattan office and fellow New Yorker, reports that Klotzman managed a few disabilities in her later years, including blindness, "with dignity and an amazing lack of complaints”. ■