Inge H. (Szczesny) Schoenberger

Inge was born Inge Hedwig Szczesny on 09-July-1936 in Kamp-Lintfort, West Germany, to parents Hedwig Berta (nee Warnecke) Szczesny and Anton Szczesny. Sadly, the union of Hedwig and Anton would not last and they were divorced by 1941 with Anton maintaining custody.

In 1942, Anton met and fell in love with Anne Ziegeler, a single mother of daughter Dorothea, in Hamburg. They soon married and moved into an apartment in the Wilhelmsburg section of Hamburg.

In late 1942, Anne & Anton added a new daughter, Ute, to the family. Sadly, Ute passed away in late 1944, yet the Szczesny’s persevered and on 25-August-1946 daughter Ursula joined the family.

During 1955, a good friend of Anton’s, who had emigrated to America, asked him if one of his daughters would be interested in coming to New York City to be an au-pair for his family. Always the adventurous one in the family, Inge jumped at the opportunity and departed Hamburg on the MS Italia on 30-May-1955.

Inge worked that first year as an au-pair before accepting a position with a travel agency on 86th Street in Manhattan. It was in a nearby café that she met the love of her life and her future husband, Eric Schoenberger. Originally from Erlangen, Germany, Eric had lived in Manhattan since the tender age of three, a Jewish refuge fleeing Nazi Germany.

The couple married on 12-October-1957. The couple's first child, Marion, born in 1958, sadly died shortly after birth never having left the hospital. Yet, the couple moved forward and together this union produced two great children, Marian in 1959 and Michael in 1962.

Both children attended the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and ended up settling in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 1990, Inge retired from her job at a podiatrist office in New York City and moved to Las Vegas to be closer to her children.

Inge always enjoyed little children and during her time in Las Vegas she returned to her au-pair roots and took care of a number of youngsters from birth until they started school. Other hobbies during her retirement years included video poker and bingo. You could say she was a bingo junkie!

During May of 2018, Inge was not feeling herself and eventually she went to Desert Springs Hospital where after many tests she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Determined to fight the cancer, she undertook both radiation and chemotherapy, however on 08-October 2018 Inge succumbed to her illness.

She will be missed, but lives on in the hearts of husband Eric Schoenberger; son Michael Schoenberger; daughter Marian Andrea Moss (nee Schoenberger); son-in-law Kyle Moss; grandchildren Aaron James Moss and Ryan Joshua Moss; and Ryan’s wife Amanda Moss.

She will be missed by family still living in Germany plus the many friends in Las Vegas whose lives she touched. Farewell.