On the other side of the street was the "Tooni", Embrach's ceramics factory. Rägi Suter, Lore's childhood playmate with whom she maintained a life-long friendship, is 2 years younger than Lore. Rägi was the daughter of the director of the Tooni and lived on the edge of the factory site. According to Rägi, Lore was something of a tomboy - adventurous, fearless and carefree. Often her vest or blouse would become untucked, earning her the affectionate nickname from her friends of "Scruffy Lore". Rägi Suter, Lore and Erika spent a great deal of their free time together, including the 2.5 kilometre walk to the village school - which they did 4 times a day - or later on when they were able to cycle to the secondary school. That meant they'd only have half an hour for lunch. Rägi was a great playmate: as the boss's daughter she had lots of toys as well as access to the factory's premises, which provided wonderful opportunities for exploration and adventure.

Fritz Lüthi's family were tradesmen, joiners and turners. Ida Bachmann's family were self-sufficient smallholders and paid labourers. All her life Lore was conscious of this peasant blood running through her veins. She felt drawn to the land and the pre-war peasant values were important to her. Ever since her youth Lore spoke with passion and light in her eyes about these values despite - or perhaps because of - the deprivations of the war years.

During the Second World War Fritz Lüthi served as a soldier on the Swiss border. Back home the family stayed together and, thanks to their large vegetable garden, managed reasonably well. By that time Lore was at the girls' school, known as the "Besi", in Winterthur. Long distances were often undertaken by bicycle which, due to the rubber tyres and unmade roads, was a very bumpy business. After leaving the "Besi" Lore undertook an apprenticeship at the Rathaus Pharmacy in Winterthur, owned by the Lutz family. Despite her "Besi" graduation, and thanks to a post-war teacher shortage and some work experience in a children's home, Lore was able to make the transition to Teacher Training College and she became a passionate and inspirational primary school teacher.

In her early 20s her relationship with a boyfriend broke up. Subsequently, at the age of 26 (at that time not unusual) she adjusted to life as an unmarried teacher. She told her grand-daughter Lina that by then she had already reconciled herself to spending the rest of her life "on the shelf" as an old maid. However, it turned out otherwise.

That same year she went as an assistant instructor to a ski-camp that was led by Schaggi Frei. Schaggi had been born in 1921 into an entrepreneurially successful and wealthy family. However, his father had led his branch of the family to financial ruin and Schaggi had been brought up by his godfather, Uncle Heinrich ("Hangeri"), in Kloten.

With a grant and a loan Schaggi was able to enrol on a teacher training course. At the age of 20 he embarked on a casual relationship which resulted in an unplanned pregnancy and suddenly became something more serious. In 1941 the couple married and soon after had a second child. However, the marriage lasted only a few years.

In 1950, not yet 30 years old and unable to finance it himself, Schaggi used a loan from his Aunt Marta to buy a 6 apartment detached house at Zielstrasse 15 in Winterthur, moving in with his 2 children and a housekeeper.

For his fellow schoolmistresses the versatile Schaggi was a popular and sought-after young man, despite being a divorced single parent with 2 children: 11 year old Ursi and 8 year old Ueli. Lore and Schaggi fell in love and got married the following year. All at once Lore had become a step-mother with a ready-made family. The couple planned to have a child of their own and in August 1954 Peter was born. Then came two more, not planned but very welcome: Andreas in February 1956; and Matthias in February 1958.

Lore and Schaggi shared the dream of a happy family, a second chance, a good life. Back then, and later on, Lore had a strong urge to play her part in making the dream come true by providing help and support. Schaggi was an interesting and versatile person and being by his side filled Lore with optimism. However, hard work and commitment was required to keep their joint dream alive. Not only were there 5 children to bring up, but from 1957 there was the additional responsibility of a 200 year-old chalet in Prättigau, and from 1967 a further large property in Wartstrasse in Winterthur.

By the end of the 1950s Lore's unmarried Aunt and Godmother, "Täntchen", had moved in with the family, living first in the self-contained apartment in Zielstrasse and later occupying the top floor of the house in Wartstrasse.

With Lore's support Schaggi was able to take on extra work doing teacher training, teaching evening classes and getting involved in parish council politics. All that, added to their joint cultural interests, amounted to a heavy workload for the couple.

The long school holidays made it possible for the 5 family members to take extended vacations in their VW Beetle and their tent, travelling to historic places in France, England and Italy. These trips included Le Corbusier's chapel in Ronchamp, Stonehenge and the Temple of Hera in Paestum. For Schaggi these were must-see sights for his family. There was enough money and priority for culture but Schaggi felt that "bread only without salami on top" was sufficient, which hurt Lore. Skiing holidays, outdoor adventures in Prättigau and their retreat at "Gretehüsli" were important priorities for Lore and Schaggi. This was real family time!

However, the pressures of this lifestyle took their toll. In 1966, at the age of 45, Schaggi had a serious heart attack. That put paid to any thoughts of never-ending creativity. Concerns about the future of the family now lurked in the background. In 1970, on 3 December, Shaggi had a second heart attack, which this time proved fatal. At the age of 43 Lore found herself alone with 2 grown-up step-children and three sons aged between 12 and 16. It was a shock.

Luckily Täntchen was there for her, to provide loyal support for the family in both the home and the garden. This meant that a few months after Schaggi's death Lore was able to return to teaching on a part time basis, which not only brought structure to her life but also professional fulfilment. After 18 years as a housewife and mother Lore was able to succeed again in a professional capacity. Thinking back on that time she said she felt lucky that during those 18 years the teaching profession hadn't changed significantly and that she was therefore able to return to work with relative ease. She loved her job and thrived on the interchange with teaching colleagues.

From that period of her life there emerged a long-standing friendship with her work-partner Emmi Zollinger and later on, following Emmi's death, with her husband Ruedi who had been a teacher colleague of Schaggi's. After retiring at the age of 58 Lore was able to enjoy many shared visits to the theatre and concerts with Ruedi, and they also took several holidays together.

With her salary and later her pension Lore was able to hold her family and her household together.

Peter, Res and This were all able to complete their secondary school education with matriculation. The relationship with the step-children Ursi and Ueli wasn't always easy. Although Ueli was close to his brothers, who admired and looked up to him, contact with Ursi unfortunately broke down over the years, which caused Lore life-long distress. Ursi died some years ago without having taken any steps towards reconciliation. The younger sons also gave Lore some sleepless nights with their dangerous sports and adventures.

All of Schaggi and Lore's 5 children found partners, had children or brought up step-children. That meant there were plenty weddings and other celebrations to enjoy over the years. In 1986 Lore delighted in the birth of Lina, the daughter of Res and Doris. She is the only grand-daughter and thus the sole heir. Through Peter's marriage to Cornelia came her son Jonas, another young addition to the family which also gave Lore great pleasure.

1997 brought both joy and grief. In the spring Lore celebrated her 70th birthday with a big party. Then shortly afterwards, step-son Ueli died from heart failure aged only 52. He left behind Regine Suter with their 2 children.

Once the 3 boys had left home Lore and Täntchen lived in the house on Zielstrasse so that up until Täntchen's death Lore was able to look after her. After that Lore missed their daily conversations and the sharing of everyday life.

For many years Lore's son Matthias would visit Lore once a week to have lunch with her, sometimes accompanied by his wife Gudrun. Lore took great pleasure in this. Shortly before Christmas 2008 came another blow. At the age of 50, Matthias took his own life. Lore took even this tragedy in her stride.

Throughout the last 10 years Lore continued to pursue her interests. She carried on with her water-colour painting, carefully maintained her correspondence with friends, and occasionally went to the theatre. She told Lina that she loved modern ballet and the expressive movement of the dancers. She read a lot, traced historical events and traditions and researched the Frei/Lüthi family history and her ancestry. She was also very interested in the Zürich dialect with its odd expressions and "funny words from the olden days", for example "Fisimatänte mache"*. She also enjoyed the monthly get-togethers with girlfriends from her "Besi" days, and later with Silvia Wolf, Peter's mother-in-law.

She tended and nurtured her garden with heart and soul, delighting in the flowers, birds and insects. No visitor to her home could leave until they'd had a tour of the garden. All this gardening kept her physically fit, so much so that she would go shopping on her bike until she was well over 80.

The Christmas biscuits were baked, the hand-painted Christmas cards were ready to post, the garden had been put to sleep for the winter - thus was Lore able to leave us in the midst of everyday life, just as she had wished.

Following a cerebral haemorrhage on 21 December she passed away peacefully on 28 December 2018.

Her funeral took place on Friday 18 January 2019 at the reformed church Veltheim in Winterthur.

*From the French "visitez ma tente", meaaning "visit my tent"!

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