Etta Wandrei
February 14, 1922 — April 17, 2011
MEMORIAL TO ETTA WANDREI BY HER DAUGHTER JUDITH JONES Mom was a survivor from the moment she was born. In her village it was very common for people to pass away from Tuberculosis (TB). She lost both her Father and one sister to this illness. Her mother died at childbirth having had TB and gave Mom lifetime immunity to it. When she was four years old, her Father died. One of her sisters was sent to live with other family members, while Mom and her oldest sister went to live with Grandma. Mom said she never felt the love as a child, but did learn many good life lessons while living with her Grandmother. She was raised in a strict Jewish Orthodox family, where both Hebrew and Yiddish were spoken. She attended a local Czechoslovakia school where they were taught a smattering of Hungarian since that area had ties to both countries. During the summertime, people would come from all parts in Europe to enjoy their mountain natural springs. Her Grandmother insisted the children learn German so they could help the tourists. Mom knew she wanted to leave her Grandmother as soon as possible to join her sister who was in Palestine, the British mandated country, later to be called Israel. In 1941 she traveled with a group to Hungary where she was able to work, because of her knowledge of different languages, in a hospital as an Aide. Her small income helped others in the group survive. She was given a false passport and traveled to Palestine as the oldest chaperon for a group of children from different countries. The British let the children in, but tried to get Mom to reveal the names of her Zionist group who had provide her the false passport. She refused to do so, insisting she was the person whose picture was on the Passport. They didn't realize she could understand everything they were saying and recognized some of the soldiers as being sympathetic to her cause, so she grabbed the passport and ran out of the room declaring she was still that woman in the picture. She was later reunited with her sister, Pnina, and was sent to learn Hebrew better while she attended an agricultural school. Pnina wanted Mom to stay on the Kibbutz with her family, but Mom, as always had another plan for her life. She joined the British Army, learning yet another language, English and began training as a LVN. While in the British Army she was assigned to Egypt where she learned to keep the patients clean, even though they were in tents in the sand and Italy where she helped the Army with war survivors. It was during this time she was able to go back to her village and discover none of her family members had survived the war. She always felt Survivors Guilt" the rest of her life. When she was discharged from the British Army, she decided to continue her training and went to school to get her RN. She was always asked about her nursing pin, as it was written in Hebrew. She was very proud to have done her training through the British Sisters, who were known to have the strictest training program. When Israel became an independent country, Mom met Dad, as he was assigned to the first American Ambassador's staff as flight crew navigator. Dad would always say he taught Mom her American English, as her accent was so hard to understand!! It was more or less the family joke, until we were assigned to Germany in 1967. Mom never wanted us to know about her upbringing and would just say her family was dead, except for her sister in Israel. She never taught us any other languages, so you can imagine our surprise when she started speaking fluent German when we were still living in the hotel. She would never answer when people asked her where she learned to speak German so fluently. Because of her thickly accented English, some people assumed she was of German descent. Ironically, it wasn't until she became a Christian in 1977 and met Pastor Chuck of the United Methodist Church in Universal City, Texas, that she became comfortable sharing stories of her Judaism childhood. He told her she was a true Judeo-Christian and would use her background as a source for many sermons. Until that time, it was the family "secret" that Mom was Jewish. We were never told stories of survival as she did not want us to share in that pain. She had started a new life as an American citizen and whenever people would ask " What kind of accent IS that? She would say it was her Texas accent! Mom's toughest physical battle came in 1983 when it was discovered she had Crohns disease, which is usually affiliated with a person in their teen-age years, but Mom was 65. She had emergency surgery where her large intestine was removed. Just three months after this surgery it was discovered the disease had spread and she began living the rest of her life with an Iliostomy bag. This became a very hard time for her. We would like to acknowledge Karen Doll who started off as a visitor and later became a good friend by sharing her strength of vast knowledge about living with a "bag". Mom was always an outgoing person and made friends easily, so once Karen taught Mom all her secrets, she became an active volunteer with the Crohns and Colitis Foundation of America. ET nurses Joyce Rosenthal and Joyce Wilson also became good friends with Mom at this time by encouraging her to bear witness to a new normal" in her life. A special thanks also to Edie Tulloss who never let this change in Moms life affect their friendship of over 50 years. The family would like to thank the above mentioned persons for their steadfast friendships throughout the last years, which were very hard on Mom. After she lost her dear husband in 2005, she thought her life would end. However, she was blessed to be able to meet her great-grandchildren Samantha and Garrett Jones, whose existence gave back hope in her life. Mom did not wish to have a memorial service, but asked that both Eds and her ashes be taken to Israel to be scattered. The family would like to acknowledge the very caring people from Independence Hill, The Laurels, and the loving people from Senior-Bridge, Tami and Mindi, who have been extended family for us in the care giving of Mom. Our special angel, Mary Powell, who provided so much more than home care in these last few months of her life. We thank the Lord for bringing your light into her world. Etta was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 53 years, Edward. She is survived by daughters Karin Wandrei and her partner Linda Cushman, Judi Jones and her husband Elby, their children, Christopher Jones and wife Amy, Amanda Campbell and her husband Gregory. She was blessed with two great grandchildren, Samantha and Garrett Jones. There are also our cousins and their families in Israel, who are looking forward to reuniting Etta and Ed. In lieu of any flower arrangements, we would request donations to: CCFA,386 Park Ave South, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10016-8804 or visit the web at :
[email protected]
For more information on Etta's early life visit www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Verkhnyaya_Bystra.
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