Interview with Ann Soltis

By Brittany Pinter

Ann Soltis is an 80-year-old woman living in Clifton, New Jersey. Ann was born August 26, 1929 in Frankfurt, Germany. She had 8 siblings, 2 girls and 6 boys. Ann said in a recent interview, “Growing up in Germany was very sad, it was a very sad time.” While Ann was growing up the country was in war and many families were living in poverty. The Holocaust was going on and it was very scary being a young girl in Germany. Ann recalled a time when she was at school and there was a parade honoring Hitler. Ann said, “Now looking back on that day I wish I could have thrown a brick at him, with all the horrible things he did.”

When Ann was a teenager she went to nursing school: there she found the love of her life. She met her soon-to-be husband Emil Soltis outside of the library while she was on her lunch break. They both knew it was love at first sight. Emil was a soldier in the war and once his duty was done he took Ann back to America with her.

The couple was married on May 17, 1952 and they came to America in September of 1952. They have three children, two girls and one boy, and eight grandchildren. Ann and Emil had a wonderful marriage and loved to travel. They went on many tropical vacations such as to Hawaii, Aruba and the Bahamas. Ann’s husband died on March 30, 2005 after having a stroke. Ann stays very active and is part of many groups in her church, St. Philips Church in Clifton, NJ. Ann is part of the Rosarian Society, the Prime Timers and she is also a Eucharistic minister. Ann is also an active member of the Red Haters Club. Ann is very close with her children and grandchildren. They threw her a surprise 80th birthday party this past August, at the Brownstone in Paterson, New Jersey. Ann was really surprised when she arrived and was thankful all her children and grandchildren made her birthday special.

Brittany Pinter is a Communications Arts student at St. Thomas Aquinas College.