Posted: 10/8/03

Hermann Kauls, 92, came here in 1952 as an immigrant from Latvia to join relatives

Cliff Buchan
News Editor

As a professional man in his native Latvia and in Germany after World War II, Hermann Kauls gave up much to move to the United States.

But it was a decision in the early 1950s that Kauls never doubted and said he would do over. Kauls, the patriarch of one of two immigrant families that moved to Forest Lake, died Friday, Oct. 3. He was 92.

Kauls, his wife Edith, and their four children immigrated to Forest Lake in 1952 from Germany. That move came three years after Hermannís brother, Teodors Kauls and his family settled in Forest Lake.

The two Kauls families fled Riga, Latvia, in 1941 in the wake of World War II and the fighting between German and Russian forces. They lived as displaced persons in Germany throughout the war and the post-war years until they were able to relocate to the United States.

Hermann Kauls was born on June 3, 1911 in Alexandrovsk (now Zaporozya) in the Ukraine. His family moved to Riga in 1924 and he graduated from the University of Riga.

He was an accountant for most his work life in Eastern Europe. He married Edith Krause in 1939 and they lived in Riga until 1941 when they moved to Heibronn, Germany.

Kauls never second-guessed the decision to uproot his family and move to the United States. For the family, the treasure was coming to a land of freedom that was free of the war they had experienced in Europe.

In a 1982 interview, Hermann Kauls said: ìIf I would have to relive my life, I would go step-by-step the same way.î

After settling in Forest Lake, Kauls went to work for US Bedding in St. Paul. He retired from the business in 1979 but spent a number of retirement years working part-time as a janitor at Setterholmís (Marketplace Foods) in Forest Lake.

The change in profession was another aspect of life that Kauls said he was willing to make to better his family. ìIt was not easy to come from an office job, no matter what kind of work, but in no (other) country could you have a chance like this,î he said in the 1982 interview on the familyís 30th anniversary in Forest Lake.

Funeral details

A funeral service for Hermann Kauls was Monday, Oct. 6 at Faith Lutheran Church, Forest Lake.

He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Edith; children Guido (Ann), Hermann (Jan), Liliane (Jack) Schutz and Peter (Olivia); 10 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; two sisters-in-law, Alma Kauls and Irmi Kuhn; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Teodors; and sister Frida.

Memorials are preferred to the American Heart Association, the American Kidney Foundation or Sharing and Caring Hands.

Top of Page