Susanne Spiegl was born in Yugoslavia on April 29th 1930, her mother Otilia, died giving birth to her at the age of 33 and her Aunt Katharina 17 became mother to her along with brothers Jakob and Hans.

Her ancestors were Donauschwaben people who claimed land offered by the Hapsburg Empire. They floated on barges down the Danube River from Germany to Yugoslavia in the 1700 hundreds

Susie and her brothers and sisters were children of WWII. Her older brothers were forced to join the German army. The rest of the family had to flee Yugoslavia when the Russian army invaded their town of Milititch. Her grandparents did not want to leave, and were taken to a concentration camp in Siberia where they died.

Travelling at night, by horse and wagon they reached Austria as refugees. Susie was the oldest child and had to work on a neighboring farm in exchange for food for the family.

After the war, Susie with her brothers Jakob and Hans and cousins from Germany left to work in factories in Halifax England. She worked in a weaving factory and lived in a dormitory with other European refugees.

Susie met my father, Miroslav (Fred) Kovar a tall handsome refugee from Czechoslovakia in 1948, they fell in love, married and my sister Helen was born in Halifax in 1950.

In 1951, they were sponsored for work in America. They left England for New York City on the Queen Mary with my 9-month-old sister Helen. Arriving at Ellis Island like millions of others refugees. Unfortunately, their jobs were gone so with a new sponsor, they moved to a chicken farm in Tyler Texas.

Fred heard about California, and worked multiple jobs to buy a car. Then they followed their dreams to the City of Angels. Where I was born ( Margie) in 1953. Life was sweet….Fred started his own car repair business and Susie kept busy being a wonderful mother and sewing every stitch of clothing we ever wore. Her brother Jakob arrived soon after and started a family.

In1959 our sister Marlene was born, but our happiness did not last long. Our hearts were broken she died in a tragic accident in 1961. Then in1962 Susie gave birth to brother Michael.

Michael was 6 months old in 1963 when we sold everything we owned and flew to Europe, both Susie and Fred had not seen their families since the war. What an adventure we had in Austria seeing her parents and siblings, then to Germany to visit aunts and cousins, and traveled behind the Iron Curtain to Czechoslovakia to visit Dad’s sisters. What a shock for a little girl from California! Then we were off to Halifax England to visit Susie’s brother Hans where I met my English cousins for the first time.

In 1965 we came back to the states and made a home in Maryland. Fred died in 1977 at the age of 54 from Pneumonia.

Susie finally found happiness when she met Ted a friend of the family recently widowed. They bought a house together and lived a happy life until tragedy struck again when Ted died suddenly of a massive stroke.

When my husband Doug and I moved to Las Vegas in 1999, Susie joined us and spent the happiest days of her life when Michael and Helen moved here too.

Susie battled a chronic illness for years but her strong will and the hardships she endured in her life kept her with us till the age of 90. What a unique, beautiful and special lady she was.