Hermine Marie Hausner, nee Schwab, age 90, of Oak Brook, Illinois. Beloved wife of the late Karl Hausner; dear daughter of the late Hermine Schwab, nee Kreuziger, and the late Robert Schwab; fond sister of Gerlinde and Marlies; aunt of many nieces and nephews.

She was born in Ober-Johnsdorf near Landskron, Sudetenland on August 20, 1934. At the end of World War II, she was eleven years old, her sister Gerlinde was seven years old, and her mother Hermine Schwab was seven months pregnant at that time with her younger sister Marlies.

On May 17, 1945, truckloads of Czech partisans arrived to conduct a People's court. They gathered the men, age sixteen to sixty, and some older. Leading them on foot to Landskron and beating them on the journey. Her father and uncle were among the men beaten so badly that they died.

In the spring of 1946, her family and many others were expelled from their home and shipped on freight cars to an expellee camp in Kaufbeuren, Bavaria, to start a new life.

In 1954 she met Karl, and he came to her house to meet her mother and her grandfather. Since her father was murdered by the Czech partisans her grandfather took it upon himself to talk to Karl to make sure that he had good intentions especially when he found out that Karl lived in the United States and was to go back in 2 weeks. Karl and her fell in love, and they decided to get engaged before his return to the United States.

In March 1956 she immigrated to the United States and on March 16, 1956, she married Karl in New York and again started a new live in another country. A few days later they flew to Chicago. Karl had rented a small apartment in Hinsdale, IL and he was working at International Harvester nearby. In the evening and on weekends they sold saunas until 1959.

In 1959 they decided to go back to Germany and visit all their relatives. They spent 6 weeks in Germany and during that time they got to know people from Siemens and upon their return to the United States Karl left IHC and they started setting up a distribution for Siemens Physical Therapy Equipment.

Together they built up the business with Siemens. It was very hard work, but they were successful and enjoyed doing it until 1969 when Siemens decided to make corporate changes and they parted with the company.

In 1969 Karl and her founded their own business selling medical equipment within the United States. It was very hard at the beginning and they worked day and night to make ends meet but they had the drive to succeed. What made it even harder for her was the fact that around that time Karl was losing his eyesight and she had to do everything for him, but love overcomes all obstacles. In 1977 her nephew Werner and his wife Helga immigrated to the United States and joined their company to help and build it up to what it is today. Since Karl grew up on his father's farm back in Czechoslovakia he always dreamed of having a farm in Wisconsin. Their dream finally came true when they bought a hobby farm in Sauk County, the same area when he came to this country. She had no idea about farming but she learned and they drove up to Wisconsin every weekend for years and this was one of the happiest times seeing the farm grow. Of course, the farm operation is handled by people who know and understand how to farm.

They never forgot their homeland and created the "Karl Hausner Foundation" and helped in restoring churches and cemeteries in their beloved native Sudetenland. In 1995 they built and dedicated a chapel at their farm in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in memory of all expellees.

Unfortunately, in early 2003 her beloved Karl was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and after a long battle he passed away on June 19, 2004.

She retired from the medical business that year and her nephew Werner and two long time employees Othmar and Georg purchased ELMED and continued running the company. She continued to spend time on the farm in Wisconsin and with the help of her nephew Werner, his wife Helga and daughter Sabine and many others, she managed to live on without her beloved Karl.

In May 2023 she took two heavy falls at her home and never recovered from that. She needed 24/7 care and her physician and friend Dr. Pantano brought her together with her care givers Janet and Enrico and she was blessed that they took care of her alongside with Werner, Helga and Sabine.

Visitation Wednesday, July 02, 2025, from 3:00 PM- 8:00 PM at Steuerle, 15 W Park Blvd, Villa Park, IL 60181.

\Mass Monday,  July 7th at 11:00 am at St. Luke Catholic Church, 1240 Nachreiner Ave, Plain, WI 53577. Internment New Saint Lukes Catholic Cemetery.