Gretel Lowinsky

Gretel Lowinsky taught cello, violin, and viola while a faculty member at the college and was also the head Librarian of the Surette Music Library.

Gretel Lowinsky is shared in countless College bulletins for her musical performances and BMC Radio program appearances. Mrs. Lowinsky is also noted in many personal letters, shared in the Western Regional Archives Lowinsky files, for her hosting many guest lecturers in her home. There is also a Gretel and Edward Lowinsky File Collection at the University of Chicago libraries.

A great obituary was written on Legacy about Gretel's life,

"Gretel J. Lowinsky died on January 11, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana, at age 97. She was born on August 15, 1920 in Kassel, Germany, to Simon and Emma Hoffman. She was the youngest of six children-the mischievous one, the playful one, the one on whose shoulder the family's pet parrot chose to sit, the one who led her gang of friends to spit cherry pits into the open windows of a passing bus.

Yet there was also a sadder, more serious side to Gretel, reinforced by the loss of life of three of her siblings, and the growing anti-Semitism and the imminence and tragic reality of the Holocaust. The Hoffmans were a musical and artistic family, secular Jews, who fled Germany for Holland when Hitler came to power.

In 1938 Gretel married the musicologist Edward Lowinsky, also a Jewish refugee from Germany. After the "Anschluss"---the German annexation of Austria-and Kristallnacht, the Hoffmans and Lowinskys joined an ever growing exodus of Jewish refugees from Europe. Like many others they were barred entry to the U.S. and took refuge in Cuba. In 1940 they made their way with great difficulty to the U.S., eventually becoming U.S. citizens. They were grateful for the support of a group of Quakers, especially George Thorpe, who became a family friend and helped the Lowinskys make their way in a new land.

The Hoffmans settled in Berkeley, California. The Lowinskys, who were at Black Mountain College in North Carolina during the 1940's and Queens College, New York and the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, New Jersey during the 1950s, came to Berkeley in 1956 when Edward became a professor of musicology at UC Berkeley and when Gretel had already proven her long standing, dedicated prowess and versatility in mastering a complex household and in the ongoing, indispensable organization and secretarial assistance that she so diligently carried out on behalf of Edward's extensive correspondence and research.

In 1961, Edward's career took him to the University of Chicago, and Chicago became their home. The marriage ended in the 1970's. But Gretel went on to live a full and accomplished life on her own, specializing in early childhood education and psychology and earning a B.A. and M.Ed. She worked with pre-school children and their young mothers, supporting bonding and teaching child development, at the Chicago Childcare Society, while also counseling clients.

At the same time, Gretel played violin and viola in chamber groups and orchestras, and especially enjoyed performing The Messiah in black churches at Christmas. She also taught numerous students violin and viola over many years and was highly regarded by her students and peers.

Last but not least, Gretel was a highly dedicated and humane mother, grandmother and great grandmother who cared deeply for her children, her children's children, and her grandchildren's children and who enjoyed visiting them and playing games with them for more than half a century. This too brought her tremendous joy and satisfaction from which the whole family also benefited. She is remembered for her modesty, her sometimes quiet yet powerful presence, her music, her laughter, and her great gusto for life. "

Relationships

Husband: Fellow BMC faculty, Edward Lowinsky