Hilde Lusser (1903-1945)
was the wife of aeronautical engineer Robert Lusser and mother of five, including Gabriele Lusser Rico. A poet and voracious reader, Hilde was killed at the age of 41 in a mysterious bombing of a remote farmhouse full of women and children. The family story has always been that the bombing was retribution against Robert Lusser for his creation of the V1 flying bomb—but was it?
Traute Lusser Grether, 92
is a retired nurse and ballet dancer who was born in Germany in 1931. She raised four children in Camarillo, California, always keeping her German heritage alive through food, language, and culture. Traute is a lively, fit senior citizen who still walks two miles a day. She lives in Sacramento with her cat, Roly-Poly.
Heide Lusser Kingsbury (1932-2021)
a proud German-American, was the executive secretary to Governer Ronald Reagan of California. She was an avid water skier and a National Ski Patrol for much of her life, and could wield a chainsaw like nobody’s business. Heide was married to Major Dave Royce Kingsbury, who was killed in action in Vietnam.
Dr Gabriele Lusser Rico (1937-2013)
was an author and professor of English and Creative Arts at San Jose State University. Her best-selling book Writing the Natural Way remains a beloved classic that teaches how to tap the creative process. A pioneer of split-brain research, Dr. Rico lectured widely at institutes and conferences like the Omega and Esalen Institutes, the University of Texas, The Conference of California Writers, The Institute for Educational Leadership, Hewlett Packard, and Sun Microsystems. Dr. Rico earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from San Jose State University and her Ph.D. from Stanford University.
Colonel Matt Deitz
is a Department Head at the U.S. Airforce Academy, specializing in Military History, Policy, and Strategy. As an F-15E instructor pilot, he logged more than 2,500 flight hours during his career, and deployed in support of Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and Inherent Resolve. Matt holds a master’s degree in History from Sam Houston State University and a master’s degree in Military Operational Art and Science from Air University. He loves historical mysteries and was a key part of solving the mystery of Hilde Lusser’s sudden, violent death in 1945.
Suzanne Rico
is a print and television journalist whose morning news broadcast won three Emmys in the prestigious Best Newscast and Breaking News categories. Her writing has been featured in O, The Oprah Magazine, The Atlantic, Outside Magazine, the Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Magazine, and others. After two decades spent covering national and international stories, this is the first time Suzanne has turned the lens on herself. Suzanne earned her bachelor’s degree in mass communications from UCLA and master’s degree in Broadcast Communications from San Francisco State University.
Dr. Stephanie Rico
teaches all sciences at San Diego High School. Also a teacher educator, she directed the San Diego Science Project at UCSD for ten years. A Fulbright scholar and fluent in three languages, she received her Ed. M from Harvard and her Ph.D. from Stanford, but has insisted on keeping one foot solidly in the classroom, where the real work of education happens. Stephanie earned her bachelor’s degree from St. John’s College, where her true love of learning and teaching began.
Robert Lusser (1899-1969)
was the chief designer of the V1 “Buzz Bomb” in World War II. V1, or Vengenace Weapon #1, was the world’s first cruise missile. Lusser also was the designer of the Bf 109 warplane, the backbone of the German Luftwaffe, and developed the He 280, the world’s first jet plane. Recruited after the war via Operation Paperclip, Lusser worked for the U.S. Army alongside Wernher von Braun on the program to send the first American rockets and satellites into space.