Gerda Siegel
September 14th, 1933 - January 10th, 2024
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Gerda's Obituary
Gerda Filler Siegel of Saint Joseph died on January 10 at Lakeland Hospital after suffering injuries from a fall at her home in the Shoreham Highlands neighborhood. She was 90.
A longtime resident of Morris County, N.J., Gerda moved to Saint Joseph in 2016 to live together with her lifelong friend and companion, the late Gitta Muller.
Gerda was born in Jena, Germany, in 1933. She witnessed and survived World War Two, which began just as she turned six. Jena suffered heavy bombing and Gerda recalled the terror of air raid sirens and fleeing to bomb shelters. She recounted the loss of many school friends. In 1945, her mother, Elisabeth, snuck Gerda and brother Helmut out of Soviet-occupied East Germany, using forged papers to get on trains and across open fields into West Germany.
Gerda’s family settled at refugee camps in Flensburg, Germany. Her father, Johannes Filler, found work at an optics manufacturing plant established by the Marshall Plan. There he met Eduard Siegel, an orphan, whom he brought home for dinner to meet Gerda. Eduard and Gerda were married in 1954 in Munich, where Gerda attended professional school to become a seamstress.
Fearing renewed war when Soviet tanks rolled into Hungary in 1956, Eduard emigrated to the United States to begin a 50-year career in high-technology optics manufacturing. Gerda and their infant son emigrated the following year, flying into the former Idlewild Airport in NYC on Dec. 6, 1957, a date they would mark for the rest of their lives. They all became naturalized citizens at the Kings County Courthouse in Brooklyn, NY, in 1964. They lived in Forest Hills and Queens Village, NY, before moving to their first house in Morris Plains, NJ.
Gerda was an accomplished seamstress employed by various New Jersey bridal salons. Eduard’s career in optics included supervising the manufacture of laser reflectors that were placed on the surface of the moon by the Apollo 17 crew in 1972.
Gerda is predeceased by her husband, Eduard, and by her parents, Johannes “Hans” Filler and Elisabeth Bettke Filler of Oberkochen, Germany; and by a younger brother, Helmut Filler, of Koenigsbronn, Germany.
Gerda is survived by her son, Ralph Johannes Siegel, and his wife, Donna Marie Leusner, of Gettysburg, Pa; her daughter, Andrea Siegel Olszewski, and her husband, Eric James Olszewski, of Boynton Beach, Fla.; and by two beloved granddaughters, Amy Elisabeth Siegel of Towson, Md., and Evin Margaret Siegel of Florham Park, NJ.
The Siegel Family wishes to acknowledge Gerda’s neighbors in St. Joseph who showed her much support and kindness, including Cindy Gardner, Ted and Faye Chamberlain, Susan and Ronald Sherman, and Sherry and Denny Kniola.
A longtime resident of Morris County, N.J., Gerda moved to Saint Joseph in 2016 to live together with her lifelong friend and companion, the late Gitta Muller.
Gerda was born in Jena, Germany, in 1933. She witnessed and survived World War Two, which began just as she turned six. Jena suffered heavy bombing and Gerda recalled the terror of air raid sirens and fleeing to bomb shelters. She recounted the loss of many school friends. In 1945, her mother, Elisabeth, snuck Gerda and brother Helmut out of Soviet-occupied East Germany, using forged papers to get on trains and across open fields into West Germany.
Gerda’s family settled at refugee camps in Flensburg, Germany. Her father, Johannes Filler, found work at an optics manufacturing plant established by the Marshall Plan. There he met Eduard Siegel, an orphan, whom he brought home for dinner to meet Gerda. Eduard and Gerda were married in 1954 in Munich, where Gerda attended professional school to become a seamstress.
Fearing renewed war when Soviet tanks rolled into Hungary in 1956, Eduard emigrated to the United States to begin a 50-year career in high-technology optics manufacturing. Gerda and their infant son emigrated the following year, flying into the former Idlewild Airport in NYC on Dec. 6, 1957, a date they would mark for the rest of their lives. They all became naturalized citizens at the Kings County Courthouse in Brooklyn, NY, in 1964. They lived in Forest Hills and Queens Village, NY, before moving to their first house in Morris Plains, NJ.
Gerda was an accomplished seamstress employed by various New Jersey bridal salons. Eduard’s career in optics included supervising the manufacture of laser reflectors that were placed on the surface of the moon by the Apollo 17 crew in 1972.
Gerda is predeceased by her husband, Eduard, and by her parents, Johannes “Hans” Filler and Elisabeth Bettke Filler of Oberkochen, Germany; and by a younger brother, Helmut Filler, of Koenigsbronn, Germany.
Gerda is survived by her son, Ralph Johannes Siegel, and his wife, Donna Marie Leusner, of Gettysburg, Pa; her daughter, Andrea Siegel Olszewski, and her husband, Eric James Olszewski, of Boynton Beach, Fla.; and by two beloved granddaughters, Amy Elisabeth Siegel of Towson, Md., and Evin Margaret Siegel of Florham Park, NJ.
The Siegel Family wishes to acknowledge Gerda’s neighbors in St. Joseph who showed her much support and kindness, including Cindy Gardner, Ted and Faye Chamberlain, Susan and Ronald Sherman, and Sherry and Denny Kniola.
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