Erika Bisswurm

(Nee Lenz) Found peace Tuesday, November 6, 2012, age 78. Beloved wife of Martin for almost 55 years. Loving mother of Susan (Jim), Gerald (Paula) and Brian Bisswurm. Proud grandmother of Megan and Drew Moore, Geoffrey and Kyle Bisswurm. Also loved by 2 brothers, 1 sister, other relatives and friends. Visitation at ST. MATTHEW'S EV. LUTHERAN CHURCH, 1615 Wauwatosa Ave., Saturday, November 10, 9:30-11:00 AM. Funeral Service 11:00 AM. Entombment Wisconsin Memorial Park. The family would like to thank the caregivers at Village at Manor Park and VITAS Innovative Hospice. In lieu of flowers, memorials to the church appreciated.Erika was born in Buer"Resse, Germany on October 9, 1934 to Gottfried and Emilie (Wolka) Lenz. Her mother died during childbirth in 1938 when Erika was just 4 years old. Her father remarried in 1939 to Auguste who was a nurse. Auguste (Oma Lenz) was a "Mom sent by God" to take care of Erika and her brother and sister, Harro and Gisela. In 1940, Friedel was born.Buer-Resse was near Gelsenkirchen which was one of the most important coal mining towns in Europe known for its coal production and oil refining. For this reason, the area was bombed heavily by Allied air raids during World War II which lasted for most of Erika's childhood from 1939 to 1945 (age 5 through 11). When the sirens went off at night, the family would rush to the basement. Her older sister, Gisela, would get Erika dressed and her stepmom would take care of Friedel who was just a young child. Erika's father was a soldier for part of the war and fought at the Eastern front " Russia. Food had to be rationed during and after the war. There were long food lines to obtain just the basics. Oma Lenz could barter her nursing skills in exchange for food.At age 9 Erika was sent to Bavaria for about 6 months under the Kinderlandverschickun program which sent children to the countryside. The main goal was to get children out of the cities and away from the strategic bombings by the Allies.To bring money into the household, Oma Lenz and Erika rolled cigars for a company at home. Also, after 8 years of grade school Erika worked on a farm for 6 months. She did not like milking cows! Later she worked for a glass company called Fest Glass. Erika decided to immigrate to the United States for a better life. Her sister Gisela and husband Otto were already here. In April of 1956, Erika and her brother Harro came over on the USS"Berlin to New York and took a train to Milwaukee.