Lisa Graney

Lisa Graney

POUGHKEEPSIE - Lisa Graney, a daughter of the Holocaust era, whose early life was indelibly marked by fear and uncertainty for herself and her family, died October 27, 2013, in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The cause of death was complications due to emphysema and lung disease. She and her husband, Ronald Hahn, were returning from a cross-country road trip to the West Coast when Lisa, who used a portable oxygen concentrator while traveling, was unable to continue and was hospitalized.

Lisa was an active member of Temple Avoda in Fairlawn, New Jersey, Vassar Temple in Poughkeepsie, New York, and Temple Shaaray Tefila, in New York City. She led a life of service to all around her.

From wartime nanny to special education teacher, as a volunteer for Dutchess Outreach and her Temple's lunchbox program, as a volunteer for Friends of the Poughkeepsie Library, and as a volunteer for AARP's Tax Counseling for the Elderly, Lisa was a tireless volunteer. She served on her condo board, and she volunteered to help Russian Jewish immigrants. Just prior to the first Gulf War, she served as a volunteer at an Israeli Defense Force base in the Negev Desert. She helped organize family reunions in Malta, Barcelona, Tuscany, and Oxford. She was a longtime volunteer usher at the Bardavon 1869 Opera House in Poughkeepsie. Even in her late 80s, using a walker and oxygen, Lisa insisted on delivering holiday goodies to shut-in members of her temple.

Liselotte Margarete Susman was born January 11, 1923 in Mannheim, Germany. She was the second child of Frederick (Fritz) Susman, "Pipetto," and Stella Alice Klebe, "Mutti." Lisa's older brother, Peter, died in 1975. Her younger brother, George, died in 1957.

Fritz was a reserve sergeant in the German army at the start of World War I. He was mobilized and sent to the Belgian front in a unit which included Private Adolph Hitler. At Epps, both Sergeant Susman and Private Hitler were wounded and hospitalized. Hitler soon returned to battle and promotion to Corporal. Fritz's wounds kept him out of further action.

Lisa lived with her family in Landau in der Pfalz, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, until 1931, when the rise of the Nazi party forced the family's move to Milan, Italy. Fritz ran an import/export business there. In 1938, Mussolini's fascist government passed anti-Semitic laws which made it impossible for Jews to attend public school. Milan had no Jewish middle school, forcing Stella to contact friends abroad in order to find a training program or school for Lisa to attend. Lisa left for London in December, 1938 and started "Nanny" training. She worked in a baby hospital for 15 months. By now, World War II was raging and Lisa, a German citizen, was interned on the Isle of Man, in the Irish Sea. Lisa later recalled that life there was not uncomfortable. Released in the summer of 1941, Lisa returned to her nanny training and received her Nursery Nurses' Certificate. She worked at various unskilled jobs until finding work in a daytime war nursery in 1944. In 1945, she became a U.S. Army postal censor in occupied Germany, where she hoped to be sent to Munich so that she could visit her parents in Milan. Instead, she was stationed in Berlin, where she married Milton Spiegel, a postal censorship inspector. Spiegel returned to the States, followed soon by Lisa, who had meanwhile broken her leg in an automobile accident. Divorce followed and Lisa worked at various accounting positions in New York City.

Her 1951 marriage to John F. Graney, Jr., one of 9 siblings, also ended in divorce, but Lisa remained a Graney to the end of her days, along with her young sons, John and Daniel. Left to raise them on her own, in Waldwick, New Jersey, Lisa earned her high school equivalency certificate and went on to earn bachelor and master degrees in special education. She taught students with special needs for the next thirty years and took her sons on cross-country camping trips over the summers.

Nearing retirement, with her sons now grown, she met her third husband, Ronald Hahn, on a skiing vacation in 1980 and moved with him to Poughkeepsie in 1985, where they spent the next 24 years enjoying their time as retirees. Ron learned to fly, and Lisa, age 65, took lessons in landing their plane, should the need arise. She worked the radios and assisted in navigation. She flew with Ron in their small plane all over the country, including Alaska (twice), with their fold-up bikes in the back. They also made numerous trips to Europe, South America, Antarctica and Israel. Lisa and Ron moved to New York City in 2009.

In addition to her husband, Ronald Hahn, Lisa is survived by her son John (Laurel), granddaughters Rachel and Robin Graney of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and her son Daniel (Wendy), and granddaughters Rebecca and Naomi Graney, of East Quogue, New York. She leaves two stepsons, Dave Hahn of Taos, New Mexico and Harold Hahn of Kingston, New York, and stepdaughter Carolyn Hahn, of New York City.

Lisa was Carolyn's trusted sounding board for more than 30 years, and approved of Carolyn's "Little Husband", Scott Imhoff, in all ways, going so far as to attend his bass guitar debut at a West Village dive. "Her hearing aids were off," her husband said afterwards.

A memorial service will be held at Vassar Temple, 140 Hooker Avenue, Poughkeepsie on Sunday, Nov. 24, 2013 at 1pm. Interment will be private.

Lisa was a contributor to the Leo Baeck Institute Center for Jewish History, where donations may be made in her memory to: 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011.