Ursula W. Reiners

Born in Bremerhaven, Germany on July 6, 1928. She lived in Germany
during WW11 experiencing all that the war entailed. Her family was
anti-Nazi but as all German Christian children she was a member of the
Hitler Youth. She and the other young people planted potatoes for
the hungry, picked up rubble, enjoyed nature, singing folk songs,
hiking and other group activities. She took care of children which
she loved and later in life became a kindergarten teacher. At 14 she
was sent to Bavaria to work for a family with whom she became
very close.

In Bremerhaven she lived with beloved grandparents who provided her
with an excellent education, humanitarian values, a rich
cultural life, and a sense of responsibility as well as freedom.

Ursula was permitted to go wherever she wished as long as the family
knew where she was, she came home for meals, did her schoolwork,
and her chores. She was always respected as a child, her questions
taken seriously and she was valued. These qualities have influenced her
life and how she treats others, especially children, elders and of
course animals. She spent much time at the port learning from the
fishermen to smoke eels, make nets, and go on the tug boat to bring in
the boats.

She became an amazing observer, a quick learner and a curious,
industrious girl. Although she had a few friends, she enjoyed being on
her own and doing what she liked. These beginnings gave her
resilience, resourcefulness, and independence. Although she had a loving
mother, great grandparents, caring aunts and uncles, in many ways,
Ursula raised herself.

She adored her mother, whose work as head of the German Red Cross in
Bremen, often kept her away. Their closeness and love for one
another was exceptional. They enjoyed a life-long friendship. When
Ursula had the opportunity to emigrate to the USA in 1945 at
age 17 her mother had enough love to let her go, to give her her
wings, in order that she might have a better life From 1945
till her death in 1986 her mother wrote weekly. Ursula visited her
yearly. Her mother made 3 trips to visit Ursula in the USA.

Ursula and her mother came to reside in a lovely neighborhood,
Oberneuland, in Bremen. There they lived happily with
the Von Engelbrechts. Her mothers marriage brought her a brother,
Karl Heinz, who is 15 years younger than Ursula and
with whom she has a loving relationship. Visits to him and his
family since her mothers death continued annually and more recently
every two years. He, his wife and family have visited numerous times
and just were here November 2011 for a week. She has a special
fondness for her fraternal twin nephews whom she has enjoyed hosting
on trips to both the East and West coasts.The generational
connection continues this summer, July 2012, when her nephew Olaf,
his wife and two children will visit and see some of the dame
he had seen years ago with Aunt Ursula.

Ursula had completed gymnasium, German high school, but more
advanced than American high school. She had studied a
Potsdam College in Berlin. By 1948 she had finished her college
level training in Bremen which prepared her to be a kindergarten
teacher. This training was never put to use due to an event which
changed the course of her life.

While listening to a radio broadcast in 1948 she heard the
announcement that the American Consulate in Bremen was accepting
applications for emigration to the United States. She applied at the
consulate, expecting to wait at least a year before being notified.
But somehow her name appeared high on the list and an early acceptance
greeted her application.

Her mother encouraged her to go to America. Leaving family and
country was difficult but the hope that she would have a
better life in America made it doable. So at 17 Ursula arrived in
Hoboken, New Jersey where she lived with her aunt and uncle.
She took a job as a maid for a Jewish family in Brooklyn where she
soon became the envy of all the other households whose maids
could not come near the quality of her work. She then worked for a
time in a nursing home. She studied English at night school
and worked in hospitals during the day.

Needing an education and not having money, Ursula was drawn to an ad
by the Women's Army Corps which offered free education.
Unbelievably, even as a German national, she was accepted in the
Women's Army Corps in 1951. She trained at Fort Dix and served
at Fort Hood, Texas where she completed her x-ray technician
training. There she earned Sgt. status and became a qualified clerk-typist.
At Fort Hood Hospital, in 1952, she became section chief of the
Outpatient X-Ray Ward with five technicians who worked under her
supervision. Still in the Army she worked as an x-ray technician at
Galveston Medical School. There her qualifications as
clerk typist had her sending confidential correspondence to top Army
brass including President Truman. She also served as cultural
attache in Galveston meeting some of the elite including Lyndon
Baines Johnson's mother. She was invited to go to Officers Candidate
School but was not interested in making a career of the Army. Her
goal in joining the Army was to get an education in order to earn
a living and that she had accomplished.

Ursula then took an x-ray technician position in Rochester, New York
at the old Rochester General Hospital where she continued to
enjoy success. Her colleague, head of the x-ray department, had
become a close friend and there were no other leadership opportunities
in x-ray so Ursula let Rochester General Hospital to take a position
for the County of Monroe as an x-ray technician and forensic
photographer- the first and only woman to hold such a position.
Eastman Kodak had been interested in hiring her and she took
a research position there in photomicrography doing key work to help
find a substitute for silver needed in the manufacture of film.

Ursula enjoyed belonging to a number of photography clubs,
traveling, nature walks, camping, concerts, and being an active member of
the young adult group at Downtown United Presbyterian Church where
till this day she maintains friendships with those now not young
adults. Ursula became a volunteer case worker at Baden Street
Settlement House, worked with NYS Tenants and Neighborhood Association
to provide housing opportunities for those in need, worked with an
inner city program called Green Acres, joined the League of Women
Voters where she became the first working President of the
Rochester/Metro League of Women Voters. In her spare time she got her
Bachelors degree in economics and psychology at night at the
University of Rochester. Ursula retired from Eastman Kodak in 1989 and
that November stood with her brother and his friend, the then mayor
of Berlin, unbeknownst before to anyone, watching the Berlin Wall
come down.

She met her good friend, Ann Weintraub when Ann moved to the same
apartment house on Culver Road. After living there ten years,
she and Ann decided to buy a home in Browncroft where 41 years
later they still reside in loving friendship. Ursula's home design,
maintenance and gardening skills have made their home unique and
wonderful

Order Flowers

Service Details

TO BE ANNOUNCED AT A LATER DATE