Anita Liebner

Some years after Bruno Liebner became a widower for the second time, he began seeing Anita Klein, who his former wife, Anna, knew and liked.

Anita was born in Manitowoc, WI. She attended a Lutheran parochial school in Manitowoc. The whole family was in the Masonic Order. She joined the Eastern Star at 16 at the same time as her father joined the Masons, so she wasn't intiated alone. Her mother was already a member.

Anita was an executive secretary at the Waukesha Foundry, supporting herself for many years after divorcing her first husband (Ralph Hopf), who she discovered had been having an extramarital affair. When married Ralph Hopf she had an instant family (Ralph's first wife died) two boys -- Curry (who died in 2008), David, and one girl Jean (she died many years ago).

Anita and Bruno fell in love and were married in a small family ceremony, at St. Mathews Lurtheran Church in Wauwatosa, WI, Sept. 9, 1959, when I was in my late teens. They decided to make their home in Clearwater, FL, where they lived in a two-bedroom ranch home (with a Florida room) they built in a subdivision in the midst of a grove of orange and grapefruit trees, which bore lots of fruit they both enjoyed and shared with their guests.

Most spring breaks, my parents would take us to FL for a couple weeks of sun, staying most of the time at Anita and Bruno's home (after their marriage), and also staying at a hotel on nearby Clearwater Beach where my dad's parents spent the entire winter for several decades.

Anita was a fun-loving, smart, easy-going lady, who had many friends and was active in church and many social groups. She became both a mother and dear friend to my mother, and was a loving, thoughtful grandma to my sisters and me. Although wise and well-informed, she knew when to smile and keep her comments to herself, particularly on sensitive topics. Her best advice: "When you lose one friend, quickly make a new one." This allowed her to continue surrounding herself with good friends with which to hang, well after Bruno passed. She continued to live in their pink stucco ranch after his death and my mom would fly down to spend a few weeks in the winter.

Anita loved to play Bridge, Pinochle, Dominos, Spite and Malice games, crochet, and knit. She loved to play the piano. She took lessons starting at age 9 and stopping at age 20.