BIOGRAPHY

Luise Imbery was born in Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, Romania (then Kolozsvár, Austria-Hungary), on 4 January 1881. Her parents were Hungarian aristocrats of German descent. She grew up in Vienna, Austria, and married in 1907. Her husband passed away in 1922, leaving her with three children. Tragically, her son went missing in 1944, and another son, a doctor in Danzig (East Germany), was killed by the Communists in 1950. She also had a daughter, Soja Jemison, with whom she moved to the United States.

In 1938, she moved from Vienna to Budapest, staying there until the Communists took over Hungary after World War II. She, her daughter, and her daughter’s family then fled to Austria. After her daughter’s husband passed away, the family—Luise, her daughter, and five grandsons—moved to America in 1950. Her daughter, who had attended both Vienna University and a music academy, quickly found work. While her daughter spoke English, Luise did not.

At the age of 69, Luise became a nurse’s aide, working in the isolation unit at Wausau Hospital North. She retired at the age of 81. Just a few weeks after her retirement, she received a call to care for a Dutch woman with cancer. After the woman’s death, she was recommended by the Milwaukee Visiting Nurse Association to care for an 84-year-old blind and bedridden woman. She remained in this role until the woman passed away 18 months later. Afterward, Luise returned to Wausau.

At the age of 92, it was reported that she managed all her own housework without assistance and took daily walks lasting an hour or more. She enjoyed reading good books and listening to classical music on her FM radio. She mentioned that she had once been an accomplished pianist. She moved to Sault Ste. Marie after turning 100, to be nearer her daughter and son-in-law.

Luise Imbery passed away in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, USA, on 14 January 1991, at the age of 110 years, 41 days.

RECOGNITION

Her age was verified by Eli Logan, and validated by LongeviQuest on 21 January 2025.

ATTRIBUTION

* Wausau Daily Herald, 1 March 1973

* “Happy and healthy at 99” – Wausau Daily Herald, 4 September 1980

* “Centennial Bridge: Two Sault Ste. Marie residents form a bridge in the 20th Century” – The Evening News, 4 January 1991

GALLERY