Passed away on April 18, 2013 at the age of 94. She was born in Berlin on January 14, 1919, to George and Marie Wilsdorf.
Anna grew up in a large family; in addition to her two brothers and her sister, she had nearly a dozen aunts and uncles and a plethora of cousins. Even nine decades later she remembered and could tell stories about every one of them. She was also a walking encyclopedia of European history and royal houses.
In the 1940’s she met Erich Merkens, and in 1942 they married. They moved from Munich to the beautiful Bavarian village of Prien am Chiemsee to raise their two children, Madeleine and Michaela. Anna was widowed in 1955 and married Hans Schmid in 1960.
During the late 50’s and early 60’s, she wrote more than a half dozen novels under the name Anna Maria Merkens. After the death of her second husband in 1976, Anna moved to the United States to live in Santa Barbara near her daughter Michaela. She proudly became a US citizen in 1986. She was a wonderful grandmother to four grandchildren, Beatrice and Michaela David in Germany, and Andreas and Ryan Schwarz in the US.
In Santa Barbara, Anna enjoyed doting on her grandchildren, caring for her cats, and working in her beautiful garden. She cursed the eucalyptus trees surrounding her house, and their leafy litter – often worrying her neighbors, who would see this octogenarian climb onto her roof and scuttle around, clearing away the leaves. “It is perfectly safe,” she would say, “If you always move forward, and never step back.”
Anna is survived by her daughter, Michaela, her grandchildren, and numerous other beloved relatives in and around Germany. Her sharp mind, kind words, stories, and love will be missed. Goodbye, Oma.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the ASAP or some other charity of your choice. Her ashes will be spread at sea in the Santa Barbara Channel as per her wishes: Nowhere near a eucalyptus tree.
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