Liesel Nussbaum Gottschalk

Hoosick Falls – Liesel Nussbaum Gottschalk, age 90, of Niskayuna, NY, succumbed to cancer on Friday, November 5, 2010.
Born in Germany during November 1919, Liesel Gottschalk grew up living above the retail fabric and clothing store owned and operated by her parents in Neustadt, Germany. In 1938, Liesel fled alone to Manchester, England, to live with relatives and escape from the Nazis until she was allowed to immigrate to the US in 1940.
Arriving alone in New York City, Liesel trained to become a practical nurse for newborn children. She met her beloved husband, Karl Gottschalk, and married before reuniting, in 1944, with her mother, Meta Nussbaum, who lived with her daughter, son-in-law and family until her death in 1985.
In 1946, Karl and Liesel purchased an existing retail clothing business in Hoosick Falls, NY, and renamed it Karl-Lee Department Store. Working as a team, Liesel doing most of the buying while Karl did the bookkeeping and ran the store, they grew the business into a successful women’s and children’s clothing store that remained a prominent local business for over 30 years. Liesel remained in Hoosick Falls until 2001 when she moved to the Glen Eddy retirement community in Niskayuna where she made numerous good friends and enjoyed the remainder of her life.
Liesel was a staunch supporter of Jewish causes and a member of Temple Berith Sholom in Troy, NY. She was active in Hadassah and a contributor to Jewish philanthropic causes, both in the US and in Israel. Always wanting to care for others, Liesel performed volunteer work for many years after her retirement at the Bennington Hospital in southern Vermont.
She loved classical music, frequently attended Saratoga and Tanglewood performances and enjoyed traveling world-wide, including a trip late last year to the Caribbean. Known as the beloved matriarch of her family, she maintained close contact with family and friends scattered throughout the world, continuously sharing family news and stories across the globe.
Mrs. Gottschalk is survived by her daughter, Margaret Gottschalk of Albany, NY, and her son, Milt Gottschalk and wife Emily of Voorhees, NJ, and her two grandsons, Eric and Marc.
Services were held at the Temple Berith Sholom, 167 Third Street in Troy, NY, on Sunday, November 7, 2010.  Interment was in the Beth Sholom Cemetery on Belle Avenue in Troy.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions in Mrs. Gottschalk’s memory to the American Cancer Society, to Temple Berith Sholom in Troy or to a charity of your choice. Funeral arrangements were by the Levine Memorial Chapel, 649 Washington Avenue, in Albany.