Luzia Dorothea Niessen Karson was born on March 5, 1926 to Hubert and Maria (Neihsen) Niessen in , . Stolberg is an industrial in western Germany near the borders of Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg, not far from northern France. Stolberg has been famed for its copper works for centuries. It is also noted for the historic Stolberg Castle at the central heights of the town, built by the emperor Charlemagne. She was the eighth sibling of ten Niessen children. Eight of the ten siblings were females: Grethe (d.2006), Klara (d.1916),Agnes (d.1981), Maria (d.2005),Kathe (d.), Luzia, Martha, and Marlene. Brothers were Peter (d.1988) and Johanes (died at birth). Dorly (which was Luzia’s nickname in her family) was born during the start of the depression in Europe, but her father, Hubert, was a bricklayer, and with odd sewing jobs for the daughters, the family managed to make ends meet. But other parts of Germany were seeing hard times for many families. The political climate grew restless and eventually dangerous. On the west border of Germany, young Dorly’s life was happy. She spent time with her father and siblings in the parks and woods surrounding Stolberg. Memories were good of those times. She attended a Catholic school in town, as education was important to her parents. Her mother had attended college and worked in an office, not common for a woman at the time. Dorly was very good at math and was a very good swimmer and diver. She remained good with numbers all her life and swam for exercise into her seventies. Around the age of 8, Dorly remembered when the crucifix in her Catholic school classroom was suddenly replaced by a picture of the new Chancellor of Germany, who had just declared himself Fuhrer of the country. Students started to be asked at school about the activities of their parents at home. Questions regarding who they talked to, what they listened to on the radio and political discussions at home were asked. At times, she noticed that some neighbors and parents of other students were not around any more, where they went to or moved to was not apparent. It wasn’t talked about. Hubert, her father, left Germany with the oldest son, Peter, because of fear about his political leanings. Maria, the mother, took over for the family. Hubert remained away from Stolberg for a few years, returning in the late 1930’s. He returned to work to support the family, was injured and died of stomach cancer in 1940. In the meantime, Peter, as the oldest and only son, was enlisted in the army and left for the Russian Front. By the early 1940’s Dorly’s three older sisters were married and their husbands were soldiers, also on the Eastern Front. She was now the oldest of the three sisters at home with their mother. The prosperity of the rejuvenated 1930’s German economy started to fade as the winds of war rose and then exploded. With their father gone, the family fell on tougher times and moved to an apartment house. Air raids became common and the war on the Russian Front deteriorated. Two brothers-in-law

P. 2 died there and brother, Peter, became a Russian prisoner. Damage to Stolberg from bombings increased as 1944 approached. As Stolberg is at the western border of Germany, it became the gateway of the battles between the Allies and German Army that followed. With the Allied invasion of Europe in 1944, the western border of Germany, including Stolberg, became the first entry point into Germany for the Allies. Stolberg and nearby Aachen were attacked and the exchanged hands, in fierce fighting, from Allied to German control regularly for weeks. Dorly’s mother refused to evacuate with her 3 daughters Dorly, Martha and Marlene, despite warnings and threats from soldiers on both sides. The next oldest daughter, Agnes with her son Josef, were seized by German soldiers and forcibly evacuated away from their family. The three sisters and mother remained holed up in their basement for weeks, with little food, water and warmth. Lice and malnutrition were horrible. The girls snuck out at night to forage for food left by the soldiers, Allied or German, who had occupied their street that day. When they emerged at the end of the battles to the victorious Allies, they found the town above was destroyed to the ground. The family faced American soldiers who did not trust them and faced scorn from fellow Germans if they fraternized with the Americans. Townspeople were moved to the basement of the famous Stolberg Castle which was also destroyed to the ground. Conditions were not better there as it was crowded with many people. As the oldest daughter at home, Dorly’s mother sent her from Stolberg to find her other sisters. She was gone for six weeks, surviving on her own, traveling with others she met for safety. She vividly remembered the utter devastation she saw of all buildings. She also remembered the horror of seeing burned bodies in the rubble and witnessing others hurt by exploding land mines on her journey. Miraculously, she found all of her sisters safely alive. However her brother, Peter, remained a prisoner in Russia for many years. The family assumed he was dead until he suddenly returned a few years later, greatly malnourished but alive. Dorly herself was severely malnourished and, having returned to Stolberg, she sought treatment at a clinic staffed by American soldiers. A young medic, named Pete Karson from Arnold, Pennsylvania, was taken by this German beauty. He took to calling her Doris, a name that stuck. Doris and Pete started a friendship that resulted in her being ostrascized by fellow Germans and disrespected by Pete’s comrades. Doris, her family, and the other surviving townspeople set about the pain-staking work of rebuilding their town. Today, Stolberg with its famous castle and cozy neighborhoods is restored from the devastation of war. The Americans stayed in the area into the 1950’s. Pete was assigned

P. 3 to the area and he and Doris spent much time together. They fell in love. Doris’ family spent time with the couple and liked and accepted Pete into their family, but worried about her choice to become serious about an American soldier. Pete was a big help to the Niessen family helping them get food and medical care in the war-torn region. Doris was anxious to find a better part of life than what she had just experienced the last few years in war-torn western Germany. Pete re-enlisted in the Army to stay in Germany, deciding to make a career of his service. Doris and Pete were married in Stolberg in 1949. Their first daughter, Linda, was born there in 1950. In 1952, Pete was assigned to return to the United States, taking his new family with him. While Pete was in American military camps being re-processed upon his return Doris and Linda left her family in Germany and moved to Arnold, Pennsylvania, Pete’s hometown. She lived with Pete’s parents for half a year, while Pete waited for a long-term assignment in the U.S.. It was hard for Doris to leave her family but she had a new family and life to follow. As a war bride, new to America with a German accent and anti-German sentiment high in the States, it was not an easy transition. Pete’s parents, Ukrainian immigrants themselves, were kind to her but it was hard with a young daughter while her husband was away from them. Pete received an assignment to a home base at Fort Meade, Maryland, where Doris and Linda joined him. They finally settled in as a family in the housing for Army families. Doris stayed at Fort Meade as Pete was sent on assignments out of country in Korea and other areas. On leaves, he returned to their home on the Fort Meade base. During this time, Martha, their second daughter, was born, joining Linda in the family in early 1954. The next year, Pete was assigned to Camp Zama near Tokyo, Japan. Doris travelled with Linda and Martha to Seattle by train and then boat to Japan to meet Pete. In Japan, near the base of Mount Fuji, the reunited family lived in local housing instead of barracks. There, Doris was the leader of the after-school Brownie troop that Linda joined at her school They stayed in Japan for 2 years and returned to Maryland upon Pete’s assignment to the Edgewood/Aberdeen Army complex. They stayed there as a family until 1961. While there, their only son, Pete, was born in 1960. Their family was complete. In 1961, Pete was assigned back to Germany, this time to the Vogelweh Army base near Frankfurt. Doris was able to reconnect with her mother and family in Stolberg and introduced her children to them. Doris, Pete, Linda, Martha and Petey enjoyed 3 years in Germany, until Pete was reassigned to the States to Fort Ord, California in 1964. They stayed there, with the children attending base schools, as before, until 1966, when Pete retired after 21 years of service to his country. The family returned to live in Pete’s hometown in Arnold, PA, near Pittsburgh. Pete worked at the local VA hospital and Doris worked at cleaning jobs in the area, while raising her children. They attended local schools while living in a close-knit neighborhood, near Pete’s parents. They purchased a house on Kenneth Ave near the Holy Virgin Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which Pete’s father had helped build. It was a stable life, staying in one place finally after

P. 4 many years of regular relocations. But the drinking pattern of Pete from his military service became a major factor in the family life. Linda graduated from Arnold High School in 1968, while Martha and Pete graduated from Valley High School later. Linda left Pennsylvania in 1969 and met Clyde Williams in Las Vegas, Nevada. They were married in 1971 and returned to Arnold. Martha completed nursing school in 1975 and was married to Robert Wardle in 1975. She moved to New York with her new husband. Pete remained in Arnold until his graduation from Valley High School. Doris was an active member of Holy Virgin Church, participating in church activities and caring for the church and priest’s home down the street. She and her son, Pete, visited her family in Germany in 1974. Martha moved to Kalamazoo Michigan where Doris’ first two grandchildren were born - Robert Pete Wardle in 1979 and Margaret Lynn Wardle in 1980. Martha divorced and married Rick Omilian in 1983. Linda and Clyde settled in Rennselaer, Indiana, where Clyde worked as head of the respiratory department at the county hospital. There Doris’ next grandchild, Jessica, was born in 1982. Her last grandchild, Lucia, named after her, was born in 1993. Pete joined Martha in the Kalamazoo area and married. He introduced Doris to three treasured step-grandsons, Nick, Benjamin, and Peter Oudsema. Doris was always delighted to visit and talk with and about all of her children and grandchildren. She was proud of all of them and loved to talk about how smart they are and what they could do. Doris and Pete lived together in Arnold, until his death in 1981, after a brief illness. He was 54 years of age, and near retirement from his second career. Doris, after grieving, moved on into a new stage of her life. She remained in Arnold in her home, becoming even more active in her church and started to work at temporary in-home care for elderly patients. At church, she became the organizer of pierogi and paska bread sales as fundraisers for the church. Travelling occasionally to Germany, she visited her family in Stolberg and the area. She also travelled to visit her children and grandchildren in Michigan and Indiana. She never learned to drive but had many friends who loved her company and were her willing travel companions. She decided to sell her house in Arnold in 1996 to Mark Popovich, Pete’s childhood friend and, at her children’s urgings, moved to Michigan near Pete and Martha and closer to her grandchildren there and in Indiana. She settled in at a condominium at the Cloisters in Kalamazoo and started a new section of her life. Her neighbors, Lynn, Bob, Shirley, Joyce, Marlene, the Browns, and many others in the Cloisters become her close friends and trusted neighbors. She attended school activities for her grandchildren, Rob and Maggie, in the area, and visited her children’s homes there and in Rennselaer. She was delighted when Maggie decided to attend Kalamazoo College just down the street from her condo and in the first year of attendance Maggie visited her from school. Then, without warning or reason, violence again invaded Doris’ happiness when Maggie was murdered in a relationship violence incident at the college in October of 1999. Doris, again witnessed her family torn apart. She helped Martha through this time, and found her own

P. 5 solace through new friends she met through a church she started to attend, East Main Church of Christ. She met many friends at the church, becoming friends with the ministers, and growing particularly close to Phyllis, Donna, Marti, Herman, John, Rosemary, Madeline, Ken, Steve, Ann and Clarence and their families. She enjoyed Bible studies and discussions, and renewed her closeness to church and God. He truly comforted her as she processed through her life and grief from over the years. She maintained close relationships with her children and grandchildren, showering them with cards, phone calls, and gifts (from her limited budget). She always wanted the best for all of them and her prayers were usually centered on asking to have their problems and needs met. Doris, as Oma, spent time with her grandson, Robert Wardle and his fiancee, Kelli Dugan, in Plainwell. She spent time with grandsons, Nick Oudsema at Pete’s house, as well as visiting Ben Oudsema and his wife Amber and twin boys, and great-grandchildren, Teagan and Connor. Peter Oudsema spent much time with his Oma at Pete’s house and helping her at her condo the last few years. She visited with Jessica and her husband Tim Wachowiak, and visited Khloe her great-grandchild at Linda’s house and at Lucia’s wedding in Indiana. In early 2013, Doris received the wonderful early birthday gift of a great-grandson, Eli Clyde, born in Rennselaer IN to her granddaughter, Lucia Williams Antcliff, and her husband Nick. She was sure he was the most beautiful baby boy ever. She was able to visit Eli in April 2013, with Linda, Clyde, Martha, Rick, and nephew Josef’s son, Thomas Krues, and his friend, Kathrin Schramm. Doris remained active and independent until growing sick in mid-December of 2013. She was admitted to Borgess Medical Center on December 21 and passed away with Linda, Martha, Pete, Jessica, and Rick at her side, on the evening of December 22, 2013. The last few years of her life were happy with her family and friends near to her. She cherished her time with all of them and loved to visit others every day. She loved her children, grandchildren, great-grandchild, the children at East Main Church of Christ and the children of the world. Her early life experiences made her cherish childhood and abhor any violence - of war and violence against women, particularly. She was an avid follower of world news and loved to discuss the events in the world, wondering how people could mistreat others in the pursuit of power and greed. She is happily dancing with Pete, her parents, sisters, and brothers and Maggie. She leaves behind many friends and relatives around the world who have wonderful and warm memories of her to console themselves.

Are you missing Obituaries in Kalamazoo? Sign up for a daily obituary update by visiting LifeStoryNet.com/kalamazoo-obituaries Here you will also find the area obituary list - a free and permanent source for all local obituaries.