Nonna K. Katzenstein `~ 1926 - 2024

Nonna K. Katzenstein (nee Klinghardt) was born in Harbin, China, on January 30, 1926. She died on September 13, 2024, in South Lake Tahoe at the age of 98.

Nonna was born in Harbin, China after her parents had emigrated from Siberia to China after the Russian Revolution. Education was important to her family and at the age of nine, she attended St. Francis boarding school in Cheefoo, China for seven years. There she learned English since Russian was her native language. When WW II broke out in 1941, her school closed and she returned to Shanghai to live with her family.

In 1946 she met a US Naval Officer at a dinner party, whom she corresponded with for several months before he asked her to be his bride and come to America. She boarded a naval transport ship and arrived in San Francisco in 1947 where she married Alfred Katzenstein. After ten years of Naval life, they settled in La Habra, Calif. where they raised their three children.

Nonna had a strong interest in education throughout her life. She completed her GED program in 1958 followed by master’s degrees. She taught English Literature at Fullerton High School for 22 years. Her love of education and teaching continued throughout her life. Her teaching philosophy was to view each of her students as a piece of fabric, working around it until it becomes beautiful.

Having been a widow for ten years, she and her mother moved to Tahoe in 1987 where she taught Russian at the Community College.

Nonna was involved throughout her life in many activities which included scouts, painting, reading the classics, traveling the world and giving support to Compassion International. She was a member of AAUW and was active for many years in the writing group. Since her father was Lutheran and her mother was Russian Orthodox she worshiped and was very active in both the Russian Orthodox Church in Sparks and the Lutheran Church at Lake Tahoe throughout the years.

Nonna was preceded in death by her husband of 30 years, Alfred Katzenstein, her son Nick of Santa Barbara, and her younger brother, Gary Klinghardt of Meadow Vista.

She is survived by her two children, John and wife Robin of Oregon and Arlene Wolfe and husband Ron of South Lake Tahoe, eight grandchildren, nineteen great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.

A Russian Orthodox service was held on October 5 at the McFarlane Mortuary in South Lake Tahoe, followed by burial at the Happy Homestead Cemetery in So Lake Tahoe. There will also be a celebration of her life at Hope Lutheran Church in South Lake Tahoe on November 9 at 10 a.m. with a brunch following the service.

The family asks in lieu of flowers that donations be made in Nonna Katzenstein’s name to Holy Royal Martyrs of Russia Orthodox Church, 1314 S. Arlington Ave., Reno NV 89509, or Hope Lutheran Church, 930 Julie Ln, So Lake Tahoe, CA 96150.

Her family and many friends will always remember Nonna as an incurable optimist, her deep faith, and one who has touched the lives of all who knew her. May she rest in peace in Tahoe the place she loved so well and called God’s Country.

"Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil - it has no point."
Billy Graham