Emanuele (Elly) Nagler of Kalamazoo, Michigan, passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family on April 29, 2026. She was born on May 30, 1926, to Kaspar and Erika Mayr in London, England. She moved to Vienna, Austria at 2 years of age, where she spent the rest of her childhood and college years. She grew up in war-torn Austria, where her family was instrumental in the foundation of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, an organization that continues today to work for worldwide peace and justice through non-violence.
Elly graduated from the University of Vienna with a PhD in Russian literature. After the war, she continued with peace/nonviolence work, participating in work camps in Europe and Central America. While on a speaking tour for the American Friends Service Committee, she met and eventually married Robert Nagler, with whom she enjoyed 65 adventurous years.
Travel and peace and justice work continued to be very important to Elly. The family lived in Nigeria for 2 years, and there were numerous trips to Europe to connect with the Vienna family through the years. As the children moved on, Bob and Elly continued to travel worldwide, enjoying museums, archeological sites, cathedrals, opera, and beautiful landscapes. They also maintained close ties with local nonviolence groups, participating in antiwar demonstrations and supporting refugees and asylum seekers from war-torn countries.
Elly was preceded in death by her husband and parents, as well as her sister Irene, brothers Richard and Norbert, and stepson Floyd. She is survived by her sister Hildegard Goss-Mayr, children Barbara, Lisa (John Urbance), Tanya (Jonathan Cunningham), Frederick (Elizabeth) and Monika (Tom Allen); grandchildren Brendan, Kes and Eliot Nagler, Tess and Claire Cunningham, Anna Urbance (Austin Ottinger), James and Erika Allen; step-grandchildren Gina (Tim Smith) and Danielle Nagler, and great grandchildren Lucas and Jack Ottinger.
Elly’s life was one of devotion to family, as well as working for the downtrodden and oppressed. She will be missed for her ability to inject a little magic in everyday occurrences with her imagination and ability to draw people together, and to project her values of peace and nonviolence to all who were lucky to know and love her.
