- Date Of Birth: June 27, 1919
- Date Of Death: April 14, 2005
- State: Michigan
Tatiana “Tania” Hunerjager, 85, of Shorewood Hills, Sawyer, Michigan, died Thursday, April 14, 2005, at Lakeland Hospital, Niles, Michigan. Tania was born June 27, 1919 in Louby, Russia to Boris and Nadine (Moussman) Labudzinski. Her family fled Russia, going to Turkey, and finally boarding the SS Asia, landing in Providence, Rhode Island. They settled in New York City, later moving to Douglaston, New York where Tania graduated from Flushing High School in 1936. She served as a WAVE at the Great Lakes Naval Base during WWII.
It was during this time that she met John F. Hunerjager who was serving his country in the U.S. Navy. They married on May 22, 1945 in New York, at the Russian Orthodox Church. After completing their service in the military, Tania and John made their home in Three Oaks, Michigan, John’s hometown. Tania earned her undergraduate degree in Elementary Education from Andrews University in 1964. She was a life long learner, continuing her education even after earning her Master?s Degree from Andrews. Tania began her career with the Galien Public School System as an elementary teacher.
Over the course of her long career, she taught every grade from elementary on up, becoming Principle and eventually held the position of Superintendent of the Galien School System. In 1990, Tania, along with the help of her friend, Marilyn Tillman, gathered the memoirs of her mother and published them in a book entitled “The Spirit Endures: Escape of a Russian Princess”.
Survivors include her son and daughter-in-law, John M. and Dawn Hunerjager of Lawrence, Michigan and grandsons, Adam and Bryce, both of Lawrence. She was preceded in death by her sister, Olga White, and on June 12, 2003 by her husband, John F. Hunerjager.
