Lillian was born 13 October 1911 in San Francisco to Gottfried Lanz and Madelaine Hasler. She was named after a heroine in a book that Madelaine especially enjoyed.
At the age of five Lillian started taking dance lessons. She also took piano lessons, but never did good at the piano. However she became very good at dancing and as a young lady started dancing professional vaudeville and for the San Francisco Ballet. Her favorite dance was the Dance of the Hours.
Lillian also took singing lessons and then sang in the chorus of the San Francisco Opera. Her favorite operas were Carmen and Aida. She did some traveling with the ballet and opera when they went on tour.
Lillian and her sister Madelaine took lessons and worked together most of the time.
Madelaine once sang on stage together with Maurice Chavalier, the famous French singer.
When Lillian graduated from high school she went with her parents on a four month trip to Europe. They first visited with two of her uncles in England, then went to Rotterdam where they picked up a car. They drove along the Rhine river and visited Switzerland, Germany, and France. Lillian did most of the driving. Lillian was a very good driver all her life.
In 1932 Lillian went to business college and then got a position working for the Canadian Bank of Commerce in San Francisco. She worked there for six years. She remained friends with some of her class mates for many years and they would have a reunion or dinner together about each year.
Lillian, like her parents, was very active in and enjoyed being part of the Swiss Singing Society.
On January 21, 1939 Lillian met Albin Dittli at a Swiss dance and she knew right then that he was the man for her. When she got home from the dance she announced, "I met the man I am going to marry."
They were married in September 1939 at St. Patrick's Church in San Francisco. It was an extremely hot day. Albin's brother, Joseph, was best man and Fritzi, Lillian's closest friend from school, was the maid of honor. After the wedding they had a beautiful dinner for family and relatives at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. On their honeymoon the went to Southern California and Tijuana, Mexico.
Lillian and Albin went on a trip to Southern California with their good friends Wayne and Helen Brawley. On the trip they all went deep sea fishing. Lillian got sick and asked Helen if that was what it felt like to be pregnant. At the time she was pregnant with her first child, Regina, though she did not know it.
They had three children together. Regina was their first, then a son Albin, then a second daughter Lillian. The evening Albin was born Albin and Lillian were at Lillian's parents home playing cards with some friends. Lillian said it is time to go to the hospital. But the men insisted they finish the card game first. When they finally got to the hospital just before midnight, Albin was born almost immediately.
Lillian always kept her home very clean and neat. She also always dressed very nicely and virtually never wore slacks or pants.
Lillian was an excellent swimmer and enjoyed swimming all her life. Several times when her children were very small she had to dive into a river (sometimes fully clothed) to save them after they foolishly jumped in. She also remembers swimming through the front door of her parents cabin on the Russian River when the river was flooding. On at least one occasion Lillian swam from Rio Nido to Gourneville, which was a distance of several miles.
Lillian found the empty store for rent that helped them get started in the retail gift business. While taking her son Albin to a routine doctor's visit she found a vacant store for rent in China Town. Lillian and Albin looked at it together and decided to rent it. They named it the Redwood Gift Bowl. They owned and ran the store for nine years, from 1944 to 1952. For three years Lillian and Albin worked seven days a week to eleven at night each night to make the store successful.
When she and her husband had the store in China Town in San Francisco they sent the children to a Catholic school half a block from the store. The school was called Our Lady of Victory and was run by an order of French nuns. Often after school was over the children would walk down to the store instead of taking the school bus home. Then sometimes Lillian would help the children with their lessons there. She also saw to it that they had a place to play in.
On November 4, 1951 Lillian and Albin bought a half acre lot in Tiburon. After they sold the gift shop they took a full year off to build their new home. The family moved into the home December 7, 1953.
One rare and unique experience Lillian and Albin had together was the opportunity to go to the top of one of the towers supporting the Golden Gate Bridge spanning the entrance to San Francisco Bay. They were accompanying a visiting dignitary from Switzerland at the time, and part of his tour included a tour of the bridge. There is an elevator that goes part way of the tower. The rest of the way is stairs. Afterwards they said that from the top of the tower the cars on the bridge below looked like ants.
Lillian worked very hard side by side with Albin in all of their businesses and on building the house in Tiburon. She was an excellent hostess and together they hosted many parties. She was also a very good cook. Some of her recipes which her son especially liked were Swiss sausage, tuna-potato chip casserole, cherries stewed with pieces of French bread, and bread pudding.
She was also very good with finances and did the bookkeeping for the businesses. One of her tricks was to take amounts from the business, unbeknownst to Albin, and stash them in a separate bank account. When they needed money for some special purpose she could usually come up with it.
On October 20, 1963 Lillian and Albin moved to Laguna Hills in Orange County in Southern California. There the two of them lived a retirement style life to the fullest degree possible. They went to dances or parties often, usually several evenings a week. They swam and walked together. They took several trips. They especially enjoyed going out to eat.
They sold the Tiburon home, getting about $180,00 for it.
In November 1978 Lillian and Albin went to the Hawaiian Islands to celebrate Albin's birthday. From there they sent a post card, dated Nov 2, 1978, to their son. It read, "Dear Ada & Albin, Having a fine trip. First rain today. People in our group OK. Things sure have changed in five years. Dad had a happy birthday yesterday with friends. Renting a car tomorrow to circle part of the island. Saturday to Honolulu for 5 days. Love Mom & Dad" The picture was of the Kona Hilton.
Starting September 4, 1977 Lillian and Albin went on a 30 day tour of Europe. They visited Paris, Luzern, Interlaken, Geneva, Nice, La Spezia, Pisa (and leaning tower), Rome, Sorrent, Pompeii, Florence, Venice, Yugoslavia, Vienna, Salzburg, Rothenburg, Mainz, Rhine River trip, Holland, and London.
In September 1979 Lillian and Albin went on a trip to Switzerland. While on that trip they sent two post cards to their son. The first was dated 9-12 and said, "Dear Ada & Albin, Having a fine trip. Have been to Rigi-Pilatus, Titlis-Sustempass. Seen Weber in Luzern. Saw many friends in Altdorf, also today in Bern. Weather is very good. We are both fine and enjoying every minute, Love. Mom & Dad." The second post card was dated 9-24 and said, "Dear Ada & Albin, Having a wonderful trip. Scenery is beautiful and friends are grand. Celebrated our 40th yesterday at a grand party in Weggis with the Griesemer clan. Today it is raining. We are both fine and happy. Still have a lot to see and do. Take good care of yourselves. Love Mom & Dad." The first card showed a picture of the town plaza in Altdorf, the second was of the William Tell statue in Altdorf. Lillian's loving husband passed away on June 18, 1988. Lillian loved her husband tremendously. Virtually everything they did they did together. Albin's death was very hard on Lillian.
The Griesemer clan referred to must be the relatives of Joe Griesemer. Joe and his wife lived in a basement apartment in the house Albin and Lillian lived in the avenues of San Francisco just before the move to Tiburon. Joe was a chief. One Halloween night when coming home after the whole family had been out, Albin discovered someone was sitting on the chair in the living room in the semi darkness. Albin challenged him and got no response. The lights were turned on with still no response. Closed investigation showed that it was a dummy, with clothes stuffed with news paper. The head was a wonderfully created head of pure chocolate. Joe had made it.
On May 13, 1989 Lillian remarried. Her new husband is Robert Stover, a widower who lived nearby in Laguna Hills. For their honeymoon they took a cruise to Mexico. During June of 1991 Lillian and Robert went on a three week tour of the Orient.
Lillian passed away on November 25, 1999 in Laguna Hill, California. It was Thanksgiving Day.
Information provided by Lillian Dittli and from my remembrances.