Longtime Denver resident Elaine Spanier passed away on November 26, 2022. She was 88. The family is planning a private celebration in June.
Born in Chicago, Ill. in 1934, Elaine Hirsch married Werner Spanier, a Holocaust survivor, in June, 1952. They were a couple until Mr. Spanier’s passing in December, 2001.
Mr. and Mrs. Spanier moved from Chicago to Grant Ranch in Littleton in the fall of 1988.
Mrs. Spanier was a devoted member of Netzwerk, which promoted dialogue with German students and senior citizens about the fates of Jews in German communities, especially Bünde.
Mr. and Mrs. Spanier visited Bünde and invited the Netzwerk group there to visit further in Denver; the connection continued through over two decades.
The group created a memorial plaque for the former synagogue in Bünde, in honor of those murdered during the Holocaust.
“It evolved into a youth exchange, where young people from Denver and Bünde got to know each other and formed friendships,” her family said. “The people of Netzwerk were very dear to Elaine.
“They became lifelong friends to her.”
Survivors are Mrs. Spanier’s children, Gerri Morahan of Greenwood Village and Bob Spanier of San Antonio, Texas; seven grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
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