Remembering Lore Kreitmayer.
A celebration of her life will be held on
Sunday, November 12.
Lore Kreitmayer was a neighbor for about 20 years, living with her daughter, Laurie Facci, and her family at 8 Milsom Drive. She passed away on Thursday, October 19, at the age of 90. Lore was a gentle, kind, and thoughtful person, and many of us will miss her warm smile and welcoming sense of humor.
All Lake Lucille members are invited to a celebration of Lore’s life on Sunday, November 12, hosted by Laurie and Mathew at their home. Because Lore loved breakfasts, pancakes and mimosas will be served in her honor.
Lore, who originally came from Germany, had a rich life and loved her family. To give us more insight into her interesting past, Laurie wrote the following tribute. Enjoy!
Lore Ava Kreitmayer was born on May 14, 1933 in Stuttgart, Germany, and she was 7 years old when the war hit. Her mother did not want her, so she lived in an orphanage until her aunt came for her. She did not know her father (though we searched for many years). Lore was brought up by my Tante Mina, who lived until the age of 93! Because of this, family was always very important to her.
At the age of 18, Lore met my dad, Vincent James Facci, who was stationed in Stuttgart during the Korean War. Vincent was very smitten by her, and when he left Stuttgart she continued her romance by sending him letters with pressed flowers. Eventually, she came alone on a boat to Brooklyn, NY, where she lived with my father’s 12 brothers and sisters in one brownstone. She took care of everyone, even my Italian grandmother.
They then moved their four children—James, Cookie, Linda and myself—to Forest Hills, NY, for a beautiful life in the Forest Hills Gardens (well, outside of the Gardens). Dad was very proud, and mom was the most beautiful woman on Loubet Street. My mom’s German heritage made her different from all the rest; instead of PB&J sandwiches, for example, she would make us liverwurst and onions on Wonder Bread with mustard. (What 8-year-old eats that at school? LOL!) She was proud to be a wife and a homemaker, and to care for her family and animals.
Throughout my childhood, mom made clothes for her three daughters, as well as all the costumes for plays and dance recitals. There were always crafts, arts, and gardening in our lives, as mom was super creative. She was an expert seamstress, knitter, and wall-paper hanger. She did it all. She never sat down all those years, always at work making gardens and ice-skating rinks in our Queens backyard when I was young. I grew up with trips to Germany to see family, and we traveled to the tops of mountains and saw castles in Austria and Germany. Other kids would go to Chunky Cheese.
My parents were married for 25 years and then divorced. At that point, mom moved upstate to Peekskill and later down to Florida. When her husband passed, she moved to my home in Lake Lucille, saying that she could live in my garage. That became her little German haus for the next 20 years.
Lore was proud of her life, and she was an important part of raising my two daughters, Emma and Olivia. When I divorced, she became the Oma (grandmother) that everyone knows and loves. She cooked for us, making her famous spaetzle. And my girls took her spaetzle soup to school, like I had done years before. She loved Lake Lucille and would sit at the beach watching her granddaughters and walking Henry, our dog.
When I met Matthew and he moved in, Lore loved to dance with him, smiling and sometimes winking at him. She did have a way with men (even if they were 30 years younger than her). Matthew made breakfast for her every day that she lived with us, and that morning meal was her favorite (or maybe it was seeing Matthew in an apron).
Lore was my cool mom; she got many whistles when she was in her 40's, she was hip in the 70's, and she became my friend and as well as an Oma to my girls. And she never lost her accent, even after 90 years! She has made baby blankets for each one of us, including ones for Emma’s and Olivia’s babies (no time soon!). Mom knew how to plan. She was generous, kind, sweet, loving, and funny.
Lore will be sorely missed by her family, including her four children; her sons-in-law, Gene and Tom; her daughter-in-law, Linda; her two other grandchildren, Jason and Michael, and their wives, Rachel and Aimee; and her two great-grandchildren, Mason and Maddie.
I hope everyone has enjoyed my mom, Lore Ava Kreitmayer. I will miss her greatly, but I’m so proud to be part of her life and to be her daughter. Lord knows I carry her name with me. —Laurie, Matthew, Emma, Olivia, and Benjamin.
