Age 98, Harrisonburg, Va.
Maria Caecilia Nollert, 98, was born in Germany in July of 1925 and died in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on January 25, 2024.
As a child “Mia” grew up helping her grandparents, her mother, and her aunt in the Neu-Isenburg family restaurant, which was known for its house-made apple cider. After the Second World War, as a young woman, she trained in the hotel business, interning in the Heidelberg Schloss Hotel, where she was thrilled to stay in the room used in the nineteenth century by Mark Twain, in the Bahnhof Hotel of Cologne, where she waited on the famous orchestra director Herbert von Karajan, and in the Alps at the Zugspitze Hotel.
Although she became an accomplished “Hotelier”, she chose not to remain in Germany and departed for New York City via ship from Hamburg in the late 1950s. In Virginia, she married August Nollert, himself a former resident of Neu-Isenburg, who worked as a chemical engineer in Luray.
Having learned French as a second language in school, Mia learned English from new friends in Luray. She was an active member for many years of the Luray Christ Episcopal Church, the Luray Garden Club, a book club, and other community organizations. She raised two sons, Rudi and Ulli, and welcomed daughters-in-law and grandchildren into the family. Predeceased by her husband, Mia spent her last years in the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community of Harrisonburg (VMRC).
A memorial service will be held at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial contributions may be made to Christ Episcopal Church of Luray, 16 Amiss Ave., Luray, VA 22835 or to the VMRC Good Samaritan Annual Fund and Compassion Endowments, 1501 Virginia Ave., Harrisonburg, VA 22802.
Arrangements are being handled by the Kyger Funeral Home in Harrisonburg, Va.
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