Cecilie Gabriela was born in Novi Sad (Yugoslavia, now Serbia); on 11 June 1922 to Hermine and Stefan Dukay. She attended the German School in Beograd (Belgrade). After finishing secretarial school, she worked at a textile factory until it was bombed out in 1941 by Germany. Cecilie spoke German, Hungarian and Serbian, and found work as a secretary with the occupying German Army.

In Sept. 1944, the unit she worked for moved to Graz, Austria (which was annexed by Germany); to stay ahead of the advancing Russian Army. In April 1945 the unit was on the move again, and was in Bavaria when the American Army caught up to them and imprisoned the entire unit, including the secretarial pool.

While in “camp”, Cecilie became friends with Paula Faulkner. Cecilie was released in the spring of 1946, and Paula’s family took her into their home in Freising, Bavaria. In November 1947, she crossed the border (without permission) into Austria to rejoin her family who had fled to Schardenberg, Austria.

Cecilie worked at making brushes by hand, and then she knit sweaters for a clothing company. By 1952, Cecilie moved to Salzburg to attend nursing school. Her mother passed away in 1954. She graduated in the summer of 1955. In January 1957, she and her father Stefan emigrated to the United States to join her sister Ella, already in St. Louis.

Cecilie worked at “old” St. Anthony’s Hospital in the operating room for several years, and was very homesick at times. She started to work for Dr. Anton Hummel, an eye doctor in South St. Louis in the early 60’s. She worked for Dr. Hummel for over thirty years, and to her last day had a close relationship with his family.

Cecilie loved to travel. She went to Hungary, Germany and Austria to visit old friends and family, and attended several reunions of the German school of her childhood. She travelled all over the United States, to include the West, the East Coast, Florida, and any place her nieces and families were stationed with the Air Force (England, Idaho, Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina…). Her dream was to see Alaska, and she vacationed there in 2004.

Cecilie was beloved by family and friends, and had a large circle of acquaintances. She was a member of Emmaus Lutheran Church and the German Cultural Society. She enjoyed crafting, sewing, painting, and loved nature and flowers. She will be sorely missed; she truly was one of a kind.

A memorial visitation will be held Thursday, January 30, 2014 from 1 pm to 2 pm, memorial service from 2 pm to 3 pm, at St. Louis Cremation, 2135 Chouteau Ave., St. Louis, MO 63103. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers donations be made to the Ronald McDonald House.

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