College dean was leader in Lenawee
8/12/2003HUDSON, Mich. - Liana Frances Davila Kuckelkorn, a former associate dean of students and foreign students adviser at Siena Heights College and a former Lenawee County commissioner, died Sunday at her home here. She was 69.
Mrs. Kuckelkorn died of Alzheimer's disease after being ill for 18 years.
Born in Puerto Rico, she came to Florida in 1949 to study biology at Florida Southern College. After graduating in 1953, she went to Madrid to study medicine for two years.
Mrs. Kuckelkorn came to Toledo to continue her studies. She completed her training as a medical lab technician in 1956 and headed the lab at St. Vincent Hospital in 1957.
Mrs. Kuckelkorn spoke English and Spanish, then learned German while her husband, Josef, was stationed in Stuttgart, Germany, with the U.S. Navy.
The couple moved to Hudson when he retired from the Navy in 1980. She became an associate dean of students and was foreign students adviser at Siena Heights. She worked there until 1986, bringing in students and making sure they could stay.
“She was a brilliant woman,” said Marge Disbrow of Tecumseh, her former secretary.
During that period, she also taught Spanish at Hillsdale College as a substitute for professors on sabbatical.
“Her idea of an exam was a party where they cooked Spanish food and spoke Spanish,” said her daughter, Helga.
In 1984, she was elected county commissioner for District 1 in Lenawee County. She served for one year.
Surviving are her husband of 46 years, Josef; daughters, Helga Kuckelkorn and Heidi Wines; son, Hans; sister, Yvonne Lopez, and three grandchildren.
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Friday in Our Savior Lutheran Church, Hudson, where visitation will be from 10 to 11 a.m. The family suggests tributes to the church or Lutheran Social Services of Northwestern Ohio.