Irene Emilie GRANZER

Irene Emilie Beeler passed away peacefully in her sleep early on February 11, 2016 in Katy, Texas, where she has lived for the past five years near her son Gerald A. Beeler. Before moving to Texas, she lived in Moberly, Missouri for about nine years. From 1963-2001 she resided at 1305 N. Main St. in Carrollton, Missouri, where she worked in housekeeping at the hospital well into to her seventies. She still has several friends and relatives in Carrollton and the surrounding area with whom she has kept contact for years.

Irene was born Irene Emilie Granzer on February 13, 1923 in Troppau (Opava), Czechoslovakia to Marie Ida Olbrich and Fridolin Granzer, both born in Boidensdorf in former Austrian Silesia, now in the Bohdanovice, Czech Rebublic. Fridolin died in WW II in Poland. Marie died in 1979 in Germany. She was preceded in death by a sister Valeria Granzer and a brother Fritz Granzer. Her surviving brother Erich Granzer lives in Ft. Erie, Ontario, Canada, with his extended family. She leaves behind three children and their spouses and children: Gerald A. and Margaret Beeler of Katy, Texas, Gwen Wilson of Warrensburg, MO, and Beverly and Charlie Fulks of Moberly, MO. She leaves behind thirteen grandchildren and their spouses and twelve great-grandchildren in Missouri and Texas.

Irene began her life in the newly formed Czechoslovakia until she became a refugee of World War II into Germany after the Russian invasion of her Czech homeland. For a brief time she worked as a governess in Czechoslovakia, Berlin and northern Germany, where Wernher von Braun (NASA) often came to dinner at the house of the rocket scientist whose children she cared for. When both of the parents died in bombing, she took the orphaned children to grandparents in Dresden, which was soon firebombed. She tried to head back home to Czechoslovakia, but she was drafted into working on airplanes by the Hitler regime. Due to an Ally attack she and a friend managed to escape the Hitler Regime, traveling back home on foot and by train to Horni Benesov, Czechoslovakia. Soon the Russians bombed her home town and house, killing a young nephew. They were forced to leave with very little, burying another newborn nephew along the way. Mostly walking and hiding in the forests, they made it to the border of Bavaria, where the American forces placed them in a crowded refugee camp. Here she met her first husband, a Bohemian, Andreas Anton Rössler, who was working for the Americans on border patrol since he spoke German, Czech, and some English. They married in 1946, but in February 1949 he was captured and jailed in Czechoslovakia for over a decade by the Russians for doing espionage for the Americans. He is Gwen and Gerald’s father. In late 1950, Irene married Wilbur Beeler, the father of Beverly. In August 1953 she traveled alone to the USA with her three children to Ft. Riley, Kansas. As a military wife she returned with her husband and family for a tour of duty from 1960-1963 and discovered a few other family members who managed to escape the Communist takeover of their country. Although her life involved many adversities, she lived a long and happy life, enjoying her family and friends.

One of Irene’s proudest moments came on December 8, 1958, when she passed her USA Citizenship test, making herself, Gerald and Gwen citizens. To the end she was very patriotic, voting in every election she could, local, state, and national. She loved Carrollton and the KC Royals, missing both after she moved to Texas. She was an avid reader of the KC Star and the Carrollton Daily Democrat, which several friends mailed to her. She kept a subscription to the Missouri Conservationist, being a devoted lover of nature and animals. There will be no memorial service or funeral, according to her wishes. She asked to be cremated with her ashes released into Nature, which she so loved. She was loved by many.

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