Elfriede “Margaret” Wurster, who with her family survived air raids on Stuttgart during World War II and later moved to Toledo to start a new life, died Monday at Kingston Care Center in Sylvania. She was 89.

She had Alzheimer's disease, but it's not clear what she died of, said her son, Phillip Wurster.

Born in 1931 to Phillipp and Else Meier in southwestern Germany, Mrs. Wurster grew up as the Nazis took power in Germany, but her devout Christian family opposed their rule and secretly listened to BBC radio broadcasts in their home.

“If they would have been overheard they could have been arrested,” Mr. Wurster said.

Allied air raids destroyed much of Stuttgart during the war, and the family lived near a Mercedes Benz plant, which put them in peril at times. While the house was never directly hit, shrapnel was a common concern. Once, Mr. Wurster said, a bomb hit the roof, but it was a dud and no one was harmed.

Because of the constant bombing, the family moved in with relatives in the Black Forest and were then largely safe, although Mrs. Wurster could hear the artillery at the front when the Allied forces advanced into the area in 1945.

After the area was liberated, Mrs. Wurster worked briefly at the Mercedes headquarters and for the postal service. But her sister had moved to Toledo, and Mrs. Wurster decided to join her in America in 1955.

There was a significant German community in Toledo at the time, and she quickly met a fellow immigrant, Albert Wurster, whom she married July 28, 1956.

They lived much of their life in South Toledo, with Mr. Wurster a bricklayer and Mrs. Wurster a homemaker. She worked for about a decade at First National Bank in downtown Toledo in the proof department.

Her parents remained in Germany until the late 1980s, and Mrs. Wurster returned frequently, but she also traveled the world with her husband, including to China, Russia, Egypt, Israel, and Australia.

“She just wanted to see so much in life,” her son said.

Albert Wurster died in 1996. 

Mrs. Wurster is survived by her son, Phillip Wurster, and five grandchildren.

A funeral service will begin Saturday at 10:15 a.m. Saturday at Walker Funeral Home, 5155 Sylvania Ave., where the family will receive visitors starting at 9:15 a.m.

The family suggests tributes to Spirit of Faith Adoptions.

First Published September 30, 2020, 4:00 a.m.