Dr. Juliane Eva Maria Martha Rose Irene Kleiboemer
July 27, 1942
City: Berlin, Germany
Daughter of Margot Luise Kleiboemer and Dr. Carl Heinrich Kleiboemer
Siblings: Axel Felix Kleiboemer, J.D. and Esther Claudia Kleiboemer Ott
Brother-in-law: Richard D. Ott
Nephew: Adam Kleiboemer
Nephew: Daniel Kleiboemer
Sister-in-law: Adrienne Kleiboemer
Great Niece: Julia Margot Ott
Great Nephew: Michael Andre Ott
Niece-in-law: Gabriela Fecik Ott
Second cousin: Gwendolyn Grelck
Juliane was the daughter of Margot Kleiboemer and Dr. Carl Heinrich Kleibomer. She was born in Berlin Germany, July 27, 1942, to a registered nurse and opera singer, and her father, a practicing attorney in Berlin, a three-generational tradition. She attended the Evangelisches Gymnasium in Berlin, a private preparatory school, her center for studies and friends. She loved her Berliner traditions, parents who had her adoration, evenings filled with classical music, and her older brother with whom she shared childhood playtime. However, the short, sweet life soon came to an end. War had come to Berlin. Berlin was targeted by the Allied Forces and others with the Battle of Berlin. Bad Suderode, a village in the Hartz Mountains, was the family's safe haven from Berlin's fiery destruction. Juliane escaped snapping bullets yet innocently played with abandoned guns following her brother's gleeful lead. Surviving this, she experienced a child's worst fear, separation from her loved ones to live with a family in Bavaria and escape famine and disease during Berlin's 1948 blockade. She became part of the Children's Train transport out of Berlin. All this before the age of six. Family reunification in Berlin came almost two years after. However, Berlin was in shambles, and the infrastructure smashed. The playground became bombed buildings, food was shared but available, friendships secured survival, and reconstruction was beginning. However, much was failing every family in Berlin. It was time, and the decision was extremely difficult.
After many months of applications, permission to enter the US was granted to our single-parent mother. Possessions were sold, tickets secured on the SS Olympia, and on January 3,1954, entered the US, to a land of freedom, safety, where dreams are fulfilled. With the help and sponsorship of the First Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Illinois (Abraham Lincoln's place of worship), Juliane entered Springfield High School. Because she academically excelled beyond her grade level, she advanced one year and graduated as one of the youngest students from Springfield High School. Juliane's English quickly advanced, and she entered the University of Illinois where she obtained her four-year degree. Later, Juliane earned her master's degree in Theatre from Illinois State University and her Doctorate from SUNY in Comparative Literature with a concentration in German language. In 1960, Juliane translated and published Wolfgang Hildesheimer's "The Delay." (Hildesheimer was a German novelist, playwright, and painter.) Although Juliane wanted to continue in the world of theater and pursue writing, her career began in the Chicago public schools teaching high school English. She was one of a few to have earned a doctorate in her field and taught many years in the public school system in Illinois. After moving to Florida to join her family, Juliane joined the faculty at Valencia Community College where she taught for two years, retiring afterwards.
Juliane had limitless strength and spirit, one with WWII survival, persistence, achievement in excellence, and a love for the theater books, music, philosophy, and family history. She will be sorely missed. God bless her for her beautiful, golden heart and talent, and her tenacity for love, loyalty, and excellence.