Hélène Widmer, My Paternal Grandmother, A Great Woman Who Will Have Marked Our Memories.

Biography of my Grandmother written by me

She was born in Le Locle on January 29, 1925, daughter of Hélène Leppert (Rosset) (1900 - 1969) and Charles Leppert (1897 - 1956). She had a brother, Charles-Henri Leppert (1923 - 1950). During her youth, she had a bold and independent spirit. She attended primary school at the Daniel Jean-Richard school and secondary school at Beaux Site in Le Locle. She aspired to serve in the army during the first conscription for women.

Her family has a rich history, as her grandparents, Karl Wilhelm Leppert (1857 - 1901) and Mina Leppert (Kraemer), founded the Leppert brewery in Le Locle between 1880 and 1885. This brewery, which was sold in 1982, was one of many breweries in the Canton of Neuchâtel, producing beer of very good quality. In 1922, Charles Leppert Jr. continued the operation of the brewery, concluding a distribution agreement for Le Locle, Les Brenets, and the surrounding area with the Brasserie de La Comète in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

The brewery faced challenges, including worker boycotts in July 1910, which were quickly resolved, and floods in July 1947. In 1955, it changed its name due to the association of the owner, and the assets and liabilities were taken over by the partnership "Charles Leppert et Co, Brasserie Leppert." Additionally, her father owned one of the first Zenith watches, which he used in the cold room and which ended up in the Zenith museum. They repurchased it around 2010 for the sum of 3000 CHF. She also requested that the pastor not come for her mother's funeral in 1969, a rare decision at the time in Le Locle. Therefore, there were no pastoral funerals, just a visit to the cemetery followed by a stop at the bistro. Her parents and brother are buried in the cemetery of Le Locle. She would go to see them several times a year and maintain their grave, and sometimes I went with her.

She was also one of the first to join Exit Suisse Romande, a suicide assistance organization, to which she had subscribed at least 25 years ago. The undertaker in Le Locle, having more than 25 years of experience, stated that he had only dealt with three people who used Exit, one of whom had withdrawn at the last moment. My grandmother was thus a very courageous woman.

She was strict but fair. She inherited the brewery somewhat abruptly because her brother Charles-Henri Leppert, who was supposed to take over the business, passed away at 27 in 1952. He died on his birthday while he was in military service from a heart attack. At that time, such a condition was merciless. As he was under arms, he was entitled to military funerals; he held the rank of Sergeant Major. This unexpected event forced her to take the reins and manage the brewery.

Fortunately, she could count on the help of my grandfather, Hermann Widmer, a good accountant, whom she had met through a promotional brochure he had

Fortunately, she could count on the help of my grandfather, Hermann Widmer, a good accountant, whom she had met through a promotional brochure he had sent from his travel agency established with his good friend Felix Stotz. This agency, HISTOBA, also served as a matchmaking agency. During their trips, they acted as omniscient guides and certainly impressed their three charming "clients".

The bonds of affection and friendship uniting my grandparents were so deep that they naturally evolved into a happy marriage. They united in 1950, and shortly after, on February 19, 1953, my grandfather joined Hélène's family business, the Leppert Brewery, just a day before the birth of their second son, my father, Charles-Henri. Together, they ran this brewery for many years while raising their three children: my father in the middle, and his two brothers, Hermann Jr., born on June 28, 1951, and Nicolas, on June 27, 1956.

As a family, they shared many activities, from skating on the frozen lake of Brenets, skiing in the Neuchâtel and alpine mountains, to visiting Uncle James in Geneva, one of the first to own an imposing Cadillac imported from the United States. They also explored cities like Basel, Zurich, and Lucerne, while frequently traveling to France and Italy, particularly to Naples, Ischia, and Florence. Uncle Gino, my father's godfather, came from Ischia, a small island near Naples, so their visits were frequent. My father even carries the second name Luigi in honor of this dear uncle. Despite the busy pace of the brewery, which worked tirelessly to supply the region with beer, my grandparents always knew how to find moments to recharge, change their scenery, and savor life.

The customs officers' uniform corresponds to the 14-18 period. The cart from the Leppert Brewery (a company from Le Locle founded in 1870) is waiting... Its presence is probably explained by the existence of a natural ice house across from the customs, as there were many in the Jura! source: Notrehistoire.ch

It was from 1993 that my sister and I lived for 2 years with my grandparents. During the school week, we were at a boarding school and returned every weekend. Our grandparents made the round trips, lasting 1 hour each time, to drop us off there on Sunday and pick us up on Friday. This created very strong bonds between us and our grandparents. I completed my CM1 and CM2 at Les Fontenelles, a village in the Haut Doubs Horloger, in the community of Russey, at the Immaculée Conception in France, a convent with good sisters.

As for my parents, they stayed in Djibouti where my sister and I returned for Christmas, Easter, and summer vacations. In July 1995, my father was transferred to Gabon, so we were able to join him, marking the end of a beautiful chapter of education and intense moments shared with my grandparents.

My grandmother placed great importance on frugality and ecology. She always insisted that we finish our plates, reminding us that even people in Africa do not have the chance to have such a full plate. She advised me to turn off the tap while brushing my teeth, to use a maximum of 2 squares of toilet paper each time, and not to leave the fridge door open for too long. We always recycled everything that could be recycled. All these little things had a gigantic effect on me today. For example, I try to open the fridge for just 5 seconds to look, I close it to think about what I want to take, and then when I'm sure of what I want, I quickly open it to grab the food I need.

She was always very simple but elegant, and with a lot of humility. She wanted people not to become slaves to big companies. She did not appreciate the liberal party, which primarily defended the interests of large corporations, while she supported small entrepreneurs. She no longer liked Coop, and always went to Migros, particularly because of their latest slogan, "for me and for you," the fact that they put "for me" first.

In 2001, my father's project in Fribourg went bankrupt. The first to come to help us were my grandparents, again. We then decided to move to Le Locle, the town where my father spent his childhood and where my grandparents still lived. I can’t count the many times my grandmother helped us psychologically and physically. All these experiences and this support greatly aided my personal development.

And when I see my sister who doesn’t even dare to let her daughter spend a single night with our parents out of fear and ignorance, who never contacts our mother nor responds to her messages, even though it was indeed her mother who brought her into this world and cared for her during her childhood so she could reach adulthood without problems, I find her truly cruel. In my opinion, she is indoctrinated by her partner, who had the audacity, during the last family Christmas meal, to insult my mother by saying "Fuck you" and treating her shamefully because, according to him, she doesn’t know how to speak French, which is false. Then, he had the nerve to tell me that he is darker than I am, he, the unique Spanish-Swiss white boy, imprisoned in his 40s for some time for having had relationships with drug dealers amounting to over 50,000 CHF, spoiled and having lived only in his gilded paradise in the heart of Europe. In short, they were forced to make themselves scarce before the end of the meal. I hope to never see them again at a family meal behaving like that. It makes me laugh and pains me after everything our parents and grandparents have done for us.

And especially, as soon as there is a significant problem, like when her boyfriend ends up in prison for an indefinite period and she doesn’t know where to turn, then she directly calls our dear father for financial support. Otherwise, the rest of the time, she never visits or even calls our parents to see how they are doing. These are behaviors that I find dishonorable.

In her last year of life, having lost her sight, she decided to opt for assisted suicide with Exit. She had chosen a date but decided to postpone it due to some disagreements with my sister, particularly regarding the opportunity to see her great-granddaughter for the first and last time. It would have been a meeting of four generations, but my sister refused, inventing an excuse that the journey of less than an hour would be too long for little Jade Kelly. However, as my grandmother often said, when you want something, you can do it. As children, my sister and I, from a young age, traveled long distances by plane, boat, and car several times a year because there was no choice. And yes, it was possible, and it always will be.

My sister did not attend our aunt's funeral, and she never visited my father during his extended stay for a liver transplant that happened at the last minute. Thanks to the anonymous donor from Zurich and the entire medical team, including the transporters who urgently brought this liver to Geneva. Our father was on the brink of death, his weight at the lowest tolerated by the human body. He remained hospitalized for over six months. And my sister finds ridiculous excuses not to visit him when he is less than an hour's drive away! I could have been in the depths of Australia, thousands of kilometers away with my wife and children, and I would have done everything possible to see him.

The most important thing for my grandmother was not to reveal her decision to her husband, my grandfather, out of respect for his last wish. She knew the exact date of her death six months in advance. She staged a moment where she told my grandfather that she had a slight headache one Sunday, and on Monday morning she swallowed the pill given by the Exit doctors who came to her home. It was the end of a chapter, on July 8, 2019. She left among the angels.

She did not want to be buried in a cemetery and preferred to be cremated, with her ashes scattered in nature, towards a communal place she cherished. We respected her choice.

Her husband, my grandfather, did not understand how she had died; it did not make sense, as she had been fine at the end. A few weeks later, on August 29, 2019, he also passed away. He wanted his ashes to be placed near hers, so we did the same for my grandfather.

My grandmother, Hélène Leppert, Hélène Widmer, taught us so much. Thank you for everything. May the supernatural forces watch over you both. We will meet again one day up there.

Patrick Tamba Widmer, Zug, in November 2024.

Links

Here are some articles published in the newspapers:

1.  The Military Funeral of Sergeant-Major Charles-Henri Leppert - La Suisse Libérale, September 12, 1952 | or version  PNG
2.  Le Locle: Death of Hermann Widmer, a Dedicated Humanist to His Adopted City - Arcinfo, October 18, 2019 | or version  PDF
3.  Burglary at the Leppert Brewery - L'impartial, October 1, 1979 | or version  Image