Charlotte Mauks

Charlotte Mauks Charlotte Mauks, beloved mother of Doctors Kath-leen Mauks and Anne Mauks, Susan Bullock and Edith Havasi, died Tuesday, March 3, 2009. She left behind her loving grandchildren, John Dye, Kathleen C. Dye, John Bullock, Charles Bullock, William Bullock, Emilie Mauks-Koepke and her husband, Ben Gibbs, Karl Koepke, Christina Johan-nesen and her children, Emma and Alex, and Andre Havasi and his wife, Robin and their children, Noah and Nicholas. She is survived by sons-in-law, Dr. Uwe Koepke, Dr. Frank Dye, John Bullock and Vilmos Havasi. Mrs. Mauks made her home with her daughter, Dr. Anne and Dr. Koepke, who lovingly cared for her for many years. She was 96 years old. For the last few years of her life, she had a wonderful and caring nurse, Linda Rapp Washington. Mrs. Mauks was predeceased by her husband of 40 years, Dr. Charles W. Mauks. She is also survived by her sister, Emmi, and nieces, Gabriella and Maria and grandniece, Andrea and her family, all from California. She loved them all. Charlotte's life reads like an epic novel. Known as "Sari" to her family, she was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1912. She lost her father in the Great War when she was only two years old and her twin siblings were two months old. Her mother, Emma, toiled endlessly to raise her three small children in war-torn Hungary. Charlotte was vivacious, smart, gutsy and beautiful. After living in the country, the family moved back to Budapest so Sari could further her studies, and she became a legal secretary. She met her husband Charles in 1934 and, after eight years of courtship, they married. Shortly afterwards, Sari gave birth to Kathleen. They were very happy, but the Second World War cruelly intervened, and they had to flee their homeland in 1944. They fled to Austria and, eventually, Germany. Her children, Anne and Susan, were born during these hard years. Through much of their exile, Sari was left on her own to care for her family. Charles was extremely busy caring for the displaced refugees in camps. They had little food, less medicine, and barely any shelter. In 1950, they left war-ravaged Europe and emigrated to Argentina. They spoke no Spanish, so they had to learn, yet, another language. The Argentinian people were gracious and kind to the Mauks and, eventually, Charles got a job as a physician in an underserved area in the province of Santa Fe. Their circumstances were often primitive and challenging. Sari, however, rose to the occasion. She was enthusiastic, strong and dependable, with boundless energy. She tutored her children, and made sure that they knew the language, literature and history of their ancestral Hungary. Charlotte had a beautiful and powerful voice. Sometimes her children thought that she knew every pop song, operetta or hymn ever written. It was a religious experience just to hear her rendition of Gounod's "Ave Maria." She sang when she was happy. She sang when she was sad. She raised her children with a strong sense of purpose and impressed in their young minds the need to be mindful for those less fortunate, to remember the misery of the masses, the hunger and disease in the world, and that it was their obligation to serve and improve their communities the best way they could. She was the most generous woman in the world, definitely to her family and to the needy. Not a day would go by that she would not ask her children to help a charitable organization, or people ravaged by natural disasters, or the orphans or the disabled. She had a special place in her heart for struggling artists. In 1957, the family came to the United States. For the third time in her life, Sari and her family changed homelands. Sari loved this country from the minute she stepped on American soil. She and her family now had to learn the English language. She, again, was the "supporting pillar of her family." She encouraged her husband, who had to start training in medicine for the third time in his life. She was very proud of him, and appreciated, like no other, the fact that he was an excellent physician and, above all, "a good man." Times were not easy. Sari, however, was a visionary. She created beauty around herself, be it in her beautiful garden, her beautifully decorated home, or in the fashions she created when she sewed for her daughters. She supported her children, not only emotionally, but also physically. She cooked, she baby sat, she kept house for them while they were studying or working. Whenever something momentous happened, the first thing her children or grandchildren would say is "Let's tell Sari!" Eventually, the grandchildren came along. She love them unconditionally, she reveled in their achievements, cried for their sorrows, and was proud of each and every one of them. Her eyes would light up when they visited. When she died on a beautiful sunlit Tuesday afternoon, an era in our lives ended. She was the sun around which we all revolved. She has now left us and truly belongs to the skies. Our love for her will live forever in our hearts.