CAMBRIDGE: Maureen Cecile Kunert, née Winters, born in Detroit on January 12th, 1936, to Martha Elizabeth Winters (née Archibald) and Theodore Winters, passed away on Thursday, July 9th, peacefully, after a valiant battle with the effects of a recent hemorrhagic stroke. “Perseverance” could easily be one of the key words of Maureen’s life.
After a childhood in the shadow of WWII spent climbing trees, jumping rope, canning vegetables and fruits, and helping her parents care for the house, the “victory garden”, and her younger and beloved siblings, she gradually spread her wings. Maureen would giggle as she recounted to her grandchildren how she and her teenage friends from the Voice of Christian Youth Group would go on retreats and get into silly mischief, such as snake dancing to the tunes of the 1950s through traffic, bringing it to a halt… here Maureen’s eyes would sparkle with mischievous memory and a giggle, “and we were hundreds of teenagers just dancing and opening doors of the cars, each one of us going through the back seats of the cars, politely excusing ourselves to the bewildered drivers”. Immediately after graduating from Harper Woods High School, “Mo” began working for the National Bank of Detroit as a teller (“and that was before calculators existed!”, she often reminded her children and grandchildren when they struggled with math). She would take the streetcar to Downtown Detroit, dressed for success, and return beaming everyday, knowing that she would have a paycheck and contribute to the household, where she was expected to pay rent.
In later years, she married Alfred Kunert. During their marriage, and subsequent life in Grosse Pointe, MI, they had three girls, each as different as can be and all equally loved for their differences: Cheryl, Susan, and Kathleen. During their early childhood, she lovingly pampered them, made certain to make healthy meals, all the while singing certain clips of songs that would follow her all her life, such as while cleaning up the dishes singing Oklahoma!’s “Oh, what a beautiful mornin’ / Oh, what a beautiful day / I’ve got a beautiful feeling / Everything’s going my way!” As the 1960s roared into the 1970s, one could say that the backdrop of the various rights movements had an affect on her. Maureen’s fortitude pushed her to take on several jobs at once. In addition to housekeeper and parent, she left late at night to work as a private duty nurse, deliberately taking the night shift so that she could be there for the children during the day. She would return before 7:00a.m. to provide her crew with scrambled eggs, bacon, oatmeal, orange juice, coffee, and vitamins, despite being weary from a long night at work. And yet, after school, by the time the children arrived within three blocks of the house, the intoxicating scent of peach or apple pies that she had made from scratch would have made them scurry home. The house would be gleamingly clean, her exhausted arms open for hugs, and ready to hear about the day’s adventures at school.
Maureen also began to dream of having her own career, her own identity. Perhaps somehow the tunes of the times had made their impression on her, which she often blasted on the Easy Listening radio station (think: Aretha Franklin’s “RESPECT”, elevator music version) while she vacuumed, or did laundry, lending a bit of resilience and spunk. Her children recall donning her fancy dresses and jewels and dance to classical music (Handel, Bach, Mendelssohn, Saint-Saëns) on WQRS or the growing disco trend, one of which was Diana Ross’s “Do You Know Where You’re Going To”, a tune she’d hum throughout her life, or “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge. Maureen insisted that her daughters receive an excellent high school and college education, and fought hard for this to happen. As her daughters spread their own wings, so did she. She found herself once again alone and, although doubting her abilities, aimed at becoming a real estate agent. A career. A new beginning. The architectural beauties in Grosse Pointe, combined with the social aspect of being a real estate agent … she took classes and passed the test with flying colors, spending many years fulfillingly involved in “nest-building”.
At this point, she began to take better charge of her health, with daily walks up to Lake St. Clair. Between buying and selling unique homes, she celebrated as her daughters made their own way in life, and visited them often when they lived overseas, in France, Britain, and Argentina, or cheering them on as they forged ahead in their own careers and lives (visiting the ruins of a castle in Surrey once, a granddaughter quipped, “Grandma, are you as old as this castle?”). Once grandchildren came along, the familiar “Oh, what a beautiful mornin’ ” tune resurfaced, and the entire household found itself singing along. She was, it cannot be said enough, absolutely dedicated to her three daughters and her grandchildren, Grace, Capucine, Cameron, Paige, and Solène.
In later years, she moved to Wellesley and then to her adored Neville Place on Fresh Pond Assisted Living in Cambridge, where she began to rebalance her senior years, make new friends, and enjoy the activities she’d always loved - classical music concerts, lectures, delectable meals, friendship, walks through lovely gardens. She also discovered genealogy, learning that she had ancestors who were among the first French to populate Canada, as well as ancestors that were peasants, masons, bakers, lords and ladies. She was delighted to learn of such a patchwork quilt of genealogy.
Maureen’s perseverance in life helped guide her daughters through thick and thin, and has provided examples (some funny, some scratch-your-head, some sacred) for her grandchildren. While countless photos show her teaching grandchildren to read; climbing through a preschool tunnel (and consequently getting stuck), attending and/or cheering on from afar sports and theatrical events, art openings, concerts, environmental causes; celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day, or other moments, nothing can replace her fierce yet gentle spirit. Thank you, Mom, for sharing your beautiful life with us.
She is predeceased by her mother, Martha Elizabeth (née Archibald) Winters and Theodore Winters, and survived by her daughters, Cheryl (William) Pellegrino, and their daughter, Grace; Susan (Vincent) Zelenko, and their daughters, Capucine and Solène; and Kathleen (Richard) Tullie, and their children, Cameron and Paige. She is also survived by her dear siblings, Beryl (and the late Ernst England), Nora (and Paul Yelensky), Thomas (and Linda Winters), Christine Winters, and Beth (and Mark Kozak), as well as her former husband, Alfred Kunert.
A loving, quiet Christian burial will be held on Tuesday, July 14, 2020 at 10:00 at the Woodlawn Cemetery, 148 Brook Street, Wellesley, MA. A celebration of life/ reunion will take place at a later date when the current pandemic eases.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations to the American Stroke Association.