Otto Paul Weiser

He was born in Solingen, Germany, on September 2, 1916, to Paul Weiser and Adele (Killing) Weiser. Solingen is a city in the North Rhine-Westphalia area near the city of Dusseldorf. He had two sisters and three brothers. When he was young, Otto had a talent for drawing, and his parents and relatives were noted for their artistic ability in painting, drawing and sculpting. Otto was a lifelong soccer fan and talked of playing right forward for various city teams in Germany.

His father was a master tool & die maker, and Otto followed in that family tradition. He met and married Charlotte Kolfhaus in Solingen in 1945 when he was a plant manager after the war. Two of Otto’s brothers had immigrated to the Unites States in the 1920s and convinced him to bring his wife and daughter, Gabriele, over by steam ship in 1953. His brother sponsored him and helped him find employment in Union, New Jersey, with a tool & die company. The Weisers lived in Union, then Hillside, and finally in Kenilworth, N.J., and became naturalized citizens in 1960. Otto joined the German Club in Union and enjoyed traveling with its singing group.

A friend from Solingen living in New Hampshire convinced Otto in 1973 to retire early and come consult for his tool & die company. Otto and his wife relocated to a property in Spofford that had woods and gardens and a barn for a horse.

Survivors include his daughter, Gabriele Poetscher of Graz, Austria; granddaughter Astrid Poetscher of Karinthia, Austria; granddaughter Kirsten Steingruber of Graz; four great-granddaughters, Valerie Poetscher, Isabel Steingruber, Natalie Steingruber and Miriam Steingruber; and one nephew, Horst Kolfhaus of Whitehouse Station, N.J.; and two grand-nieces, Claudia Wenger and Andrea Domboise, both of N.J.

A memorial service was held April 27 at The Woodward Home and donations can be made to The Woodward Home, 194-202 Court St., Keene, NH 03431.

Fletcher Funeral Home & Cremation Services (www.fletcherfuneralhome.com), 33 Marlboro St, Keene, NH was entrusted with the arrangements.