Louise Levite Sommers died peacefully on November 30, surrounded by her loving family and devoted caregivers. She is remembered by her family and friends for her beauty and grace, her ever-present smile and her generous acts of loving kindness.
Born Liesl-Lotte Levite on April 24, 1925, in Straubing, Germany, to Irma and Max Levite, Louise could trace her family roots in Bavaria back to the 16th century.
When Louise was seven, her mother died tragically as the result of a carbon monoxide leak. At age 11, she and her younger sister Elsa escaped Nazi Germany, living first in London, then arriving in Terre Haute, where their one relative, her Uncle Salo Levite, lived.
About arriving in America, Louise remarked, “You can’t imagine how I felt when I first saw the Statue of Liberty. I think it waved to me, “Welcome, Stranger.”
