My Parents - My Superheroes!

My Parents - My Super Heroes! Amazing Lives During Extraordinary Times

My parents - Josef Thiemermann and Johanna Nowak - lived through some of the most difficult years in European history. They've succeeded against seemingly insurmountable odds - from the Russian front line in WWII, to famine and despair in the Austrian homeland; from traveling for weeks on a crowded freight train, to a new beginning in post-war Germany.

Hanna and Josef spent the last 25 years of their lives as well-respected business people in a suburban community just outside of Munich. Having raised 3 children and having worked hard all their lives, they were ready to retire. The business was sold, and soon afterwards my parents died.

I love my parents more than ever before. Literally. Here's more of our story...

My Mother - As A Little Girl In Vienna

My Mother - Johanna Nowak

A single child...

Mom was born in 1922, in Vienna, Austria. As an apprentice in her mother's business - she learned the milliner trade. Hatmaker, modiste - there are probably not many more of them around. Vienna was and is a very fashion-conscious city and my grandmother's business was successful until the war destroyed everything. But the war also brought German soldiers into town, and that changed my mother's life significantly.

My Dear Parents

Mom, Dad and Kids...

My Father - Josef Thiemermann

A middle child of seven siblings!

Dad was born in 1914, in Leinefelde, a small town in an area that would become the Russian-occupied East Germany, for 40 years after the war's end.

At age 14, my father joined a working band as an apprentice for clarinet and saxophone. He took classes during the day and played gigs at night.

During WWII, he fought at the Northern front, mostly in Finland and Norway, where he got injured and returned home to Germany and Austria. He spent the last year of the war playing in marching bands at events in those two countries, whose "unification" was in progress at that time.

My dad's youngest sister died from an illness at age 19. Two of his brothers were killed on the Russian front.

One day in 1944, Josef's band participated in a parade in Vienna, when he caught the attention of a beautiful lady on the side lines...

My Dad On The Alto Sax - Second From Right...

Falling In Love In Vienna...

I believe it was spring time...

My parents met and fell in love around the same time as my mother's best girlfriend, Steffi, fell in love with an American soldier named Lane Hammack. After the war, my parents settled in Munich, Germany and Steffi emigrated to Texas to become Lane's wife.

I was born in 1949, in Munich - and Lane became my godfather.

Thirty years later, I emigrated to Texas myself and married Lane's daughter Susan. In the picture below you see Lane, Steffi, and their children Susan and Victor - back home in Texas during the 1960s.

27 years later, I found Squidoo.com - but that's a whole 'nuther story...

My Parents' Hometown For 30 Years - Munich

Here are a few impressions from flickr...

Much has changed since my parents died, but these are images they've enjoyed during their life times.

view from the Olympia tower in Munich

Schloss Nymphenburg Munich by Digitaler Lumpensammler

Taken from my bureau in Munich.

frauenkirche (munich, germany)

Sunset in Munich by yushimoto_02 [christian]

Sunset in Munich - shot taken from the HVB Tower.

Munich, Kleinhesseloher Lake by palestrina55

The Kleinhesseloher Lake in the English Garten in Munich, Germany.

Marienplads - the heart of Munich, Bavaria.

Asam Church Munich by Digitaler Lumpensammler

One of the views of Theatinerkirche Tower in Munich.

River Isar in Munich (winter evening) by Digitaler Lumpensammler

-Added to the Cream...

Vista al atardecer del Neues Rathaus a la derecha (Ayuntamiento nuevo) y de la F...

Munich, An der Isar 1 by Digitaler Lumpensammler

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Timeline Of My Superheroes' Lives

They never gave up!

1930 - 1940
Growing up in two countries in between two wars - WWI ended in 1918. Mom became a hatmaker and dad learned to be a musician. Dad's family ran a small farm and produced their own produce and meats. I remember the wonderful sausages I got to taste, years later. The picture shows my father's parents.
1940 -1950
My parents met and got married, but my mother encountered difficulties in leaving Nazi-occupied Austria. She had to flee and cross the border river at night. Then she spent weeks traveling in cramped freight trains to reach Munich - a trip that today takes 3 hours by car on the autobahn.

My mother started a neighborhood hatmaking business from their first small apartment in Munich. She also bought a special small machine and repaired stockings during long night hours. My father worked as a door-to-door salesman for soaps, a worker in a rubber factory (which ruined part of his health), and a part-time musician at night.
1950 - 1960
This picture shows my mother, her parents, me and my sister Doris.

My mother's dad was a skilled carpenter. He helped to build our first retail store by dividing a room of our 2-bedroom apartment and breaking through a wall to create a separate entrance door for our customers. Mom expanded the business and offered notions, textiles and fashions in our tiny store.

Dad finally found steady employment as a civil servant for the Department of Justice. He slowly phased out his musician gigs and focused on keeping the business books for the store. There were no computers back then, and everything had to be entered and calculated by hand into thick volumes of ledgers.
1970 - 1980
We moved the business into a large retail space located in a heavily-trafficked area of our suburban community. Meanwhile, both of my sisters and 1-2 part-time employees worked for the store. By 1979, my father had reached his retirement age and my parents decided to sell the business. Neither one of my sisters wanted to take over the store, and I was by that time already established in my activities as a record producer and arranger. The sale brought in a few thousand dollars, not nearly enough to compensate for the sheer amount of labor and health sacrifices invested by my parents. Nevertheless, mom and dad decided to leave their work life behind and enjoy their senior years by relaxing and gardening in our little weekend place in the country. It didn't work out that way.

In September of 1979, my father died of a massive heart attack, at age 65. My mother moved into an assisted living home and died nine years later of a heart attack in her sleep, also at age 65.

Dad - "The Life Of Every Party" And Gardener; ----- Mom With Her Mom (Oma)

My Dad Knew How To Entertain His Guests!

He was truly the life of many parties...

One of his most beloved performances was "The Rooster".
I honor his legacy by demonstrating this hilarious game of speed and deception to my annual guests at the Driftwood Lodge in Alaska.

The Rooster

Chef Keem entertains his Alaskan lodge guests weekly with this hilarious game of speed, deception, and potential loss of hearing. After 5 seasons of performances, the "rooster" remains "unslapped".

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My Parents would be proud of my new candy creation...

Espresso Sea Salt Caramels Truffles!

Espresso Sea Salt Caramel Truffles - My Best Candy Ever.

Raving reviews of "Chef Keem's Espresso Sea Salt Caramel Truffles!" Here's why they are better than any other sea salt caramels on the market: I cook a rich and smooth "dulce de leche" caramel from scratch and flavor it with intense Mexican Vanilla i...

My Parents Loved Music!

These were some of their favorite artists...

Glenn Miller's All Time Greatest Hits

Release Date: 10/17/2006

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Live at the Royal Albert Hall

Release Date: 05/06/2008

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Classic Sinatra: His Greatest Performances 1953-1960

Release Date: 03/28/2000

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Twilight of the Gods: The Essential Wagner Collection

Release Date: 08/11/1998

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Der Oktoberfest Hit-Mix

Release Date: 01/30/2007

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Dealing With Germany's Past...

These books are extremely relevant today!

Black Edelweiss: A Memoir of Combat and Conscience by a Soldier of the Waffen-SS

by: Johann Voss

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As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Escape from a Siberian Labor Camp and His 3-Year Trek to Freedom

by: Josef M. Bauer

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Attacks

by: Erwin Rommel

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My Father's Country: Story of a German Family

by: Wibke Bruhns

Release Date: 05/06/2008

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On Hitler's Mountain: Overcoming the Legacy of a Nazi Childhood (P.S.)

by: Irmgard A. Hunt

Release Date: 01/31/2006

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Blog Posts On "Honoring Parents"

Honoring Parents and Faith: It's Father's Day, so I wanted to pose a question here about honoring one's parents when it comes to faith. I think many of us still believe that the commandment to honor one's father and mother should be followed, at least to some ...
China punishes officials after babies whose parents were still ...: June 1st, 2009 Russia's Medvedev honors big familiesMOSCOW ? Russia has a long tradition of honoring it soldiers, scholars and scientists for outsized achievements. On Monday, it honored parents with outsized families with the "Order of ...
Giving Honor To Whom It Is Due « Thoughts by Dad: Palatnik also writes that acceptance is a key to honoring parents. Again, we are taught in scripture to ?love one another as Christ has loved us.? (John 13:34) If Christ can love and accept me for all of my filthy rags . ...
Emes Ve-Emunah: Chumros - and Honoring Parents: Chumros - and Honoring Parents. What was it like in the good old days of American Jewry? Were our parents and grandparents better than us? Perhaps an answer can be found in Rashi at the beginning of Parshas Noach. ...

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Please Say Hi To My Folks!

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Lensmaster

ftuley wrote...

Really good read :) 5 Stars

Posted June 29, 2009

Lensmaster

thaisilk wrote...

What a great Lens about a very special family.
I am also VERY new to Squidoo and after looking at your lens, I have so much to learn.
If you get a chance drop by and say hello

Posted June 09, 2009

Lensmaster

Momtothezoo wrote...

I love this lens...the baby photo alone made me smile! Thank you so much for sharing your parents with us.

Posted May 20, 2009

Lensmaster

Swisstoons wrote...

This is one of the most enjoyable lenses I've read yet, Chef. A truly wonderful reminiscence....hitting all the emotions. The part about your eventual move to Texas to meet and marry the daughter of your mom's best friend caused me to clear my throat more than a couple of times.

Posted April 16, 2009

Lensmaster

JenOfChicago wrote...

A lovely tribute

Posted April 15, 2009

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