Martha Ernestine Frunza,

Frunza, Martha Ernestine MADISON-Martha Ernestine Frunza, loved mother, wife, grandmother and great grandmother, passed away at the age of 88, surrounded by her family to join Alexandru, her beloved husband of 61 years, on Thursday, June 11, 2015. Martha Huber was born in Munich, Germany on Oct. 15, 1926, where her father was a locksmith and mother was part of the successful Schmidbauer family furniture-making business. Martha's childhood was extremely happy, having grown up blocks from the famed Marienplatz in the center and heart of Munich. As a youngster she attended a girl's Catholic school where she learned excellent English and then went on to Handelsschule (vocational school), for more advanced schooling to become a secretary. During her teen years World War II broke out and life changed dramatically. Her home was bombed and having been completely destroyed, Martha, together with her mother and younger brother decided they needed to move to the country so they would be more safe. While living there with a farm family, they hid and protected an American officer from the German military as he had gotten separated from his troops. He wished to formally recognize their bravery and did so by writing a note attesting to this and gave it to Martha, which served her well for the future that lie ahead. In order to find a better job, she and a friend hitch hiked back to Munich. Unable to find a job in the private German sector, she thought she would try to get a secretarial position with the American military stationed in Munich. The note from the American officer together with her excellent English skills landed her the job she needed to survive. Better times followed when she met a handsome Romanian refugee and architectural engineering student, Alexandru Frunza. Entering a Munich restaurant on a rainy evening after work, Martha looked around and there were no empty tables except for one seat, at Alex's table. Showing off the confidence that would define her life, Martha asked if she could sit with him to have dinner. After this happenstance encounter they dated, became engaged and were married on Aug. 27, 1948. Martha had always dreamed of adventure and not seeing a future for worn torn Munich she and Alex decided to emigrate from Germany and chose New Zealand because it seemed the most exotic. After being married seven years they celebrated the birth of their first child, Sylvia, in 1955. Always hoping to ultimately immigrate to the United States and knowing it would afford their family better opportunities for the future, they applied to come but were rejected. Martha remembered the note from the American officer which had served her so well before, so they reapplied and the magic note did its work and they were accepted. With the help of their Romanian friend, Peter Bostanescu who served as their sponsor, they came to the United States and Madison, Wisconsin as their final destination. With Martha being over eight months pregnant, they packed up their entire worldly possessions, and traveled across the Pacific Ocean for a two week journey on the steamship Mariposa to San Francisco. There, they boarded a train to Chicago where Peter picked them up and brought them to Madison, where they lived since 1958. Five days after arriving in Madison, Martha gave birth to her second child, Stella. In 1959, Alex and Martha bought a home on Elmside Boulevard in Madison where the family prospered. Alex, an architectural engineer, remodeled their home piece by piece while Martha, mother and extremely frugal homemaker of the 60's and 70's, took care of the family and held a part-time position with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Martha was a wonderful mother, instilling in her daughters the importance of an education. Having obtained their degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, they both went on to have successful careers, Sylvia, as a teacher and Stella, as a physician. Having had a love for piano and not having had the opportunity to learn herself, Martha made sure her daughters would have this opportunity. They learned the joy of music and these wonderful values of education and music have been passed down to her three grandchildren, all of whom are becoming successful in their own lives. Throughout the decades, Martha and Alex remained true to family values and loved being with their family and friends, whatever the occasion. After retirement they continued their adventures and traveled the world. Alex passed away in October 2009 and although Martha grieved terribly for the loss of her beloved husband, her fight with cancer shortly thereafter brought out her survivor instinct. She was able to live four more wonderful years cancer free. With the help of her family, she was able to stay in her home that she loved so much, spending afternoons and beautiful sunsets in her sunporch, looking over Lake Monona and reminiscing about her remarkable life. Martha Ernestine Frunza, will be remembered for always "wanting to do the right thing" and always "wanting to do my best," which she always did. Although we all learned her wonderful German recipes, none of us can cook or bake quite like her. We will miss her signature apfelkuchen, wienerschnitzel and especially the lebkuchen at Christmas. She was an adventurer, survivor, and most of all loving mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She is survived by her brother, Hans (Rosi) Huber; her two daughters, Sylvia (Michael) Oberle; and Stella (David) Frunza Patten M.D.; her three grandchildren, Kathleen Patten, James Patten and Andrew (Caitlin) Patten; and her great-grandchild, Logan Patten. A funeral service will be at GUNDERSON EAST FUNERAL HOME, 5203 Monona Dr., Madison, at 11 a.m., on Tuesday, June 16, 2015. Visitation will be held at the funeral home from 10 a.m. until the time of the service on Tuesday. We want to thank all the staff at Heritage Senior Living in Middleton and Agrace HospiceCare for the care they gave our mother over the last many weeks. We also thank her doctors for giving us four extra family filled years with mom. A special thank you to Father Dushack from St. Bernard Parish in Middleton for the peace he brought to mom through his visit and blessing. Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com. Gunderson East Funeral & Cremation Care 5203 Monona Drive (608)221-5420