A member of the von Trapp family, Eleonore “Lorli” Trapp Campbell, 90, died on October 17 in Northfield, Vermont.
Campbell was the second daughter of Austrian naval Captain Georg von Trapp and Maria Augusta Kutschera von Trapp. Though she was not depicted in the movie The Sound of Music, Campbell had sung and toured with the von Trapp family and carried on many of the traditions of her Austrian immigrant family.
Capt. von Trapp and his first wife, Agathe Whitehead von Trapp, had seven children who were the basis for the singing family in the musical and film. Maria married the captain after his wife died. She taught her new stepchildren music. Agathe and Georg’s daughter Maria Franziska von Trapp, who had become a lay missionary, died in 2014, the last of that nuclear family to pass away.
Georg and Maria had three more children, including Campbell and her siblings, Rosmarie von Trapp and Johannes von Trapp.
According to the Day Funeral Home in Randolph, Vermont, Lorli Trapp was born in Salzburg, Austria. The von Trapps, whose singing of sacred, Renaissance, and folk music led to their international fame, fled Austria in 1938 to avoid Hitler and eventually settled in Stowe, Vermont.
Hope McAndrew, of East Hardwick, Vermont, one of Lorli’s children, told the Associated Press last week that the Austrian traditions her mother brought to Vermont from Europe played a big part in the family life.
Lorli Trapp’s first career was singing soprano as a member of the Trapp Family Singers, traveling internationally throughout the United States.
“They did amazing Christmas concerts that she would describe to us. And they were really touching,” McAndrew said. “She had very fond memories of those Christmas concerts.”
Eleonore stopped touring when she married Hugh David Campbell in 1954. The couple had seven daughters.
“Lorli baked the family’s bread and taught her girls to cook, bake, garden, sew, knit, darn, and make butter and ice cream from scratch,” her obituary said. “She cherished long cross-country ski hikes when they built a fire in the snow and roasted hot dogs. Lorli sewed many of her daughters’ wedding dresses; she baked wedding cakes and rolls and arranged flowers for their wedding receptions. She and Hugh planted raspberries, blueberries, and fruit trees, and took pride in her flower gardens. Lorli and Hugh graciously opened their home to many friends and family, but particularly loved sharing their hobbies and spending time with their grandchildren. Lorli cherished her friendship with God and loved to share her faith.”
In addition to her daughters, Campbell is survived by her sister Rosmarie and brother Johannes, both of Stowe, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
A memorial service is planned for November 6 at the Waitsfield Church and Village Meeting House.
And today we celebrate...