Liesel (Lampert) Lopez

At 83-years-young, Liesel Lopez passed away Thursday, November 2, 2017. Always embracing life and loving people, Liesel Lopez, 83, was born Lina Lampert in 1934 in Elmshausen, a small village in the Odenwald mountains of central Germany. Her father, Ernst Lampert, was a cobbler, and her mother, Anna, a homemaker. Her cherished younger brother, Ernst, was born four years later. Their small village family life was torn apart when her father had been taken away and forced to fight in the war in which he later perished. As a widow, her mother alone fended for her young children through the difficult and lean times during and immediately after World War II. At 14, Lina left home to work for family friends as a live-in maid in Frankfurt. Preferred to then be called Liesel, at 19, she was fortunate to land a job as a waitress in the U.S. Armed Forces coffee shop near the Frankfurt train station. Her life would soon change when one day, a handsome, young American sailor named Larry Lopez from Albuquerque, New Mexico, entered the restaurant. When Larry saw Liesel, he fell immediately in love. He knew she was the one he would marry—and quickly told her so. She rebuffed his advances, but his persistence paid off, and after two years of courtship, they married. After over 50 years of marriage, sadly, 11 years ago, Liesel lost Larry--the love of her life. Today she is survived by her two sons, David and Charles. Liesel is also survived by her older brother, Erich Gehbauer; her nieces, nephews and cousins in Germany and Canada—as well as many brothers- and sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, grand nieces and nephews—and many other members of her much-beloved Lopez Family. Liesel also left behind many caring friends, young and old, who grew to love her. Those who knew Liesel knew her as a kind, loving and determined woman—effervescent—who would take any opportunity she could get to celebrate life. Liesel will be remembered for her charm and wit, and for being the life of the party. She will be dearly missed.