After a period of declining health, Vivian M. (Reiners) Novado passed away peacefully on December 10. Vivian was born on September 29, 1929, to Heinz Reiners and Wilhelmina Kessler Reiners in Hoboken, New Jersey, and was later joined by her brother, Walter.

When she was three years old, Vivian, Walter, and their parents returned to their native Germany for family support and medical help after her father’s severe arm injury. They settled in Bremerhaven in what was meant to be a temporary situation, and unfortunately became trapped in Germany during World War II. During World War II, Vivian was evacuated with her schoolmates to the safer area of the Luhatschowitz in Czechoslovakia (today: Luhacovice in the Czech Republic). While frightening to be separated from her parents during the war, this area was a safe haven, and she fondly remembered the beauty of that region.

Upon the ending of World War II, 17-year-old Vivian was granted an exit visa, and returned to the United States to live with relatives in New Jersey. She began work at AT&T in New York City, which she very much enjoyed. 

In 1955, while vacationing at a dude ranch in the Adirondacks, she met her great love and future husband John Novado, and they were later married in Tenafly, New Jersey. The couple then relocated to Syracuse, New York.

Later, they bought a house in Westvale where they grew a family and a large vegetable garden. Given that World War II had interrupted Vivian’s education, she began studies for her Bachelor’s degree at Syracuse University in the 1970s. Vivian ultimately earned a Master’s degree in library science. She enjoyed working for Syracuse University in the University’s Special Collections archives, where she did translations from German to English of historic academic papers. 

Vivian loved to travel with her family and especially enjoyed returning periodically to Germany to visit family there, and to New England (especially Cape Cod), and to Washington DC to see the cherry blossoms in bloom.

She is survived by John, her beloved husband of 63 years; her daughters, Anne Novado of Bayonne, New Jersey and Heide Johnson of Andover; granddaughters Annika and J. Johnson, and many well-loved cousins. She is predeceased by her parents and brother. 

A service was held at Bagozzi Twins Funeral Home in Solvay, New York, with a private burial in Onondaga County Veterans Memorial Cemetery. If you would like to honor Vivian’s life and memory, you can donate to Cape Cod National Seashore, 99 Marconi Site Rd, Wellfleet MA 02667. Please share online tributes and memories at BagozziTwins.com.