By Nicole Hamilton
Enquirer staff writer

MOUNT AIRY - At the height of World War II, Melinda A. Zwertschek found herself fleeing her native Romania with her husband and young child as Soviet troops moved into the country.

Taking just a few clothes and their accordion, the family made its way to Vienna where they lived until 1947, when her husband, Erich, was offered a sponsorship to work for an architectural firm in Dayton, Ohio.

They moved to Cincinnati in 1949.

She was so proud of becoming a United States resident that she wrote a speech, "America For Me," which she gave about 2,000 times, addressing groups all over her adopted country.

Mrs. Zwertschek died Wednesday at Good Samaritan Hospital of pneumonia. The longtime Mount Airy resident was 82.

"She felt so lucky to have her freedom," said her son, Michael Sylvester of Covington. "She was able to start a new life in this country and she wanted other Americans to know how lucky they are."

Her son said that Jack Paar saw Mrs. Zwertschek being interviewed on a television news program and invited her to be a guest on the Tonight Show, and she obliged.

Her son said her gifts as a "humorist and natural entertainer" came in handy for her 30-year stint as the hostess of Lenhardt's restaurant in Clifton Heights.

On one occasion, astronaut Neil Armstrong visited the restaurant on a night when it was busy with patrons from Dayton in town for a University of Cincinnati basketball game.

When someone asked Mrs. Zwertschek where all the customers were from, she responded, "Most are from Dayton, but one's from the moon," and pointed to Armstrong.

A member of the Cincinnati Donauschwaben Society, she taught children's folk dancing classes for several years.

She was also active in the Girl Scouts of America and the Hungarian Society of Cincinnati.

Besides her son, other survivors include her husband, Erich, of Clifton; another son, Erich Sylvester of Los Angeles; and a grandson.

The service has been held. Burial was in Spring Grove Cemetery in Winton Place.

Memorials can be made to Scarlet Oaks Retirement Community, 440 Lafayette Ave., Cincinnati, 45220; St. Leo the Great Catholic Church, 2573 St. Leo Place, Cincinnati, 45225; or St. Bernard Church, 740 Circle Ave., Cincinnati, 45232.

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E-mail nhamilton@enquirer.com