Family Tree: The Brechtel Family

This page isn't directly about our trip to Mexico. I posted it for the family and for those who want to look up the cast of characters mentioned in our photos and stories.

My family in Mexico — that is, my mother's side of the family — is the Brechtel family, now in its fifth generation. Below are a few notes on the various members of the family. Rudolf and Erica Rudolf Brechtel ("Rudi") and his wife Erica left Germany in 1924, a time of economic desperation in their home country, and moved to Mexico. (This is not as strange as it might seem; many Latin American countries have had thriving German colonies for over a century.) Rudolf took a job as a teacher at the presitigious German school in Mexico City (Alexander von Humboldt Colegio Alemán) and eventually became the director. Curiously, they also ran a boarding house for many of the students, so Peter and my mother grew up among literally dozens of other kids. My grandmother ("Oma") was (in)famous for her steely will and her love of the outdoors. For instance, she liked climbing Mexico's many volcanos.

Brechtel family, 1928. Erica, Peter, Rudi, Carmen (Click to enlarge)

Peter and Waltraut
Peter married Waltraut Bindel, herself the daughter of German immigrants. Both were involved in the German school, he as vice director, she as teacher. Waltraut has become the matriarch of the Brechtel family. To me, she is Tante Waltraut, my aunt. To the kids and grandkids, she is simply Oma. She will turn 80 next year, but she is still active, teaching German privately in her home.

Carmen My mother was Carmen, known in Mexico as "Chica" (little one) from the time she was a girl. After school, she went to nurse's training in Kansas City, where she accustomed herself to English. After returning to Mexico, she married an American, Jon Pope, and moved to his home in Los Angeles, where I was born. (In my case we are thus three generations, three countries, three languages.)

Carmen's wedding, 1952? The girl is Karin. Note the dogs. (Click to enlarge)

Karin's wedding, 1970. Carmen, Werner, Margot, Waltraut, Karin, Peter. (Click to enlarge)

Karin and Tomás Karin has been a teacher and is now in sales; she has sought jobs that would allow her to use her German. Tomás had a first career as a doctor. After retiring, he followed his interest in literature and has became a successful playwright who is very well known in Mexico, with about 300 plays to his credit. Margot Margot is an ophthalmologist who specializes in surgery. She splits her time between a position as government doctor and private practice. On weekends she works in a clinic outside Mexico City that provides medical services to low-income people. She's a busy woman, but happy in her work.

Werner
Werner developed a brain tumor when he was in his early 20s. Although it was successfully removed, it left him legally blind and with complications that periodically put him back in the hospital. In spite of that, he became an accredited simultaneous translator in several languages. He then attended law school (reading his texts in Braille) and earned a law degree. Tragically, the ongoing complications from the tumor eventually proved too much, and he passed away shortly after passing his bar exams.

Richard and Mike My older brother Richard was born with severe birth defects and has been institutionalized since he was young. I was born in Los Angeles, but my mother and I moved to Mexico when I was four. I started school there at the German school, and we moved back to the US. after I completed two years. We lived in Denver, where I graduated from high school and all the rest. I moved to Seattle for graduate school and have been here ever since.

Mike and Richard, 1960 (Click to enlarge)