The Markow Family Tree

When Gloria Spiegler played piano, it was always more than background music to her audience. In 18 years as a pianist at the Omni William Penn Hotel, formerly the Penn Sheraton, and at restaurants, lounges, clubs, or for weddings and anniversaries, Mrs. Spiegler amazed listeners with her virtuosity as a performer and charmed them with her personality. "She impressed them with her ebullience and joie de vivre, and that she could rattle off so many songs," said her son, Oren Spiegler, of Upper St. Clair. "She was classically trained and had a tremendous technique," said Mary Lou Haugh, local pianist and friend. "Her command of the instrument was outstanding." Mrs. Spiegler, of Upper St. Clair, died Tuesday evening at Jefferson Regional Medical Center due to complications of a stroke and a pulmonary embolism. The longtime Squirrel Hill resident was 83. Born Gloria Siegle in Monongahela, Washington County, on Nov. 11, 1921, Mrs. Spiegler was valedictorian of Monongahela High School's Class of 1939. She attended Carnegie Mellon University, then Carnegie Institute of Technology. Majoring in piano, she also became known for composing Broadway songs and musicals and for her performances in the university's "Scotch and Soda" shows. But after graduating in 1943, she largely gave up composing to focus on teaching the piano and performing. "At one time she went to New York, but nothing came of it, though she had hopes for that," said Spiegler of his mother's composing. "So often she would perform [her songs] and people would be bowled over by them and say, 'You have to publish these.' " It was after her marriage to Dr. Kurt Samuel Spiegler ended in 1959 that she most fully embraced "her first love," that of performing, most prominently four-year stint at the Penn Sheraton. "Her forte was being a soloist," said Haugh. "She had a marvelous ear; if you hummed a tune she could play it. She took all kinds of requests. She knew entire scores of shows." "She liked to take classical pieces and play them in a popular style," said Marjorie Steen, a former violinist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. "She was an improviser." "I heard her once do 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' in the style of Mozart, and it was fantastic," said Haugh. Mrs. Spiegler also was a sought-after teacher in the area, teaching for 60 years as many as 75 students a week. Away from music, she found a different sort of harmony with her beloved collie, Cami. Contributions may be made to Animal Friends, 2643 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh 15222, or Rodef Shalom Congregation Remembrance Fund or Solomon B. Freehof Endowment Fund, 4905 Fifth Ave, Pittsburgh 15213. William Slater Funeral Home, 1650 Greentree Road, is handling the funeral. A memorial service will take place at Rodef Shalom Temple, where Mrs. Spiegler was a member, at 2 p.m. Sunday, with visitation beginning at 12:30 p.m. and burial following at West View Cemetery in Ross.

Pianist struck chord of harmony with many Jerry Vondas|Thursday, February 24, 2005 12:00 a.m. Gloria Spiegler was a talented pianist who entertained members of the Concordia Club, Pittsburgh Golf Club and the PAA, as well as patrons of the Hilton and William Penn hotels. She also taught others to play the piano and for 60 years gave lessons in her Squirrel Hill home. Mrs. Spiegler, of Upper St. Clair and formerly of Squirrel Hill, died Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2005, in the hospice care at Jefferson Regional Medical Center, Jefferson Hills. She was 83. Albert and Adele Raizman recalled Mrs. Spiegler’s warm and affable rapport with members of the Concordia Club in Oakland. “It was a pleasure to walk in the lobby of the club and to see and hear Gloria at the piano,” said club member Adele Raizman, who was one of Mrs. Spiegler’s students. “Gloria was always ready to accommodate a member who made a request for a song.” Oren Spiegler said his mother cherished her role as a piano teacher and was devoted to her students. “At the height of my mother’s teaching career, she had at least 75 students every week,” he said. “After my parents divorced in 1959, my mother — who had a terrific work ethic — raised me in her role as a single mother. She also cared for my grandmother who lived with us.” Born and raised in Monongahela, Washington County, Mrs. Spiegler was the only child of Max and Taube Silverman Siegle. Her father operated clothing stores in Monongahela and Donora. Upon his death in 1935, Mrs. Spiegler helped her mother run the business. “My grandmother continued to operate the stores until she closed them in the 1960s,” Spiegler said. “Throughout her life, my mother never seemed to tire. She received her work ethic from my grandparents.” Mrs. Siegle died in 1978. Mrs. Spiegler was a 1939 graduate of Monongahela High School and was the class valedictorian. She enrolled at Carnegie Institute of Technology — now Carnegie Mellon University — and received her undergraduate degree in fine arts. At Carnegie Tech, Mrs. Spiegler honed her skills as a pianist and developed her talents as a composer and performer, said her son. “My mother wrote and contributed a large volume of music for Carnegie Tech’s Scotch ‘n’ Soda Theater,” he said. In 1955, she married Kurt S. Spiegler, a mechanical engineer employed by Gulf Oil Corp. at the Harmarville Research Center. “Dad had emigrated from Austria after World War II,” Spiegler said. “He lost both of his parents in the Holocaust. My father was a noted expert and writer in the field of desalination.” Mr. Spiegler died in 2001. During one of Mrs. Spiegler’s hotel appearances Downtown, she had the opportunity to perform before National Public Radio jazz pianist Marian McPartland. “My mother treasured a note of praise that Miss McPartland sent to her,” her son said. Although she was in her early 80s when she moved to Upper St. Clair in 2002 to be close to her son and daughter-in-law, Mrs. Spiegler — ever the piano teacher — established a class of students in her neighborhood and taught until her health began to decline. Mrs. Spiegler is survived by a son, Oren M. Spiegler, and his wife, Colleen, of Upper St. Clair. Visitation will be 90 minutes before the funeral service at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Aaron Center of Rodef Shalom Congregation, Fifth Avenue, Oakland, where Mrs. Spiegler was a member. Interment will be at West View of Rodef Shalom Congregation. Arrangements by William Slater II Funeral Services, Scott.

SPIEGLER, Kurt Samuel Published 4:00 am PDT, Saturday, May 19, 2001 SPIEGLER, Kurt Samuel -- At home in El Cerrito May 17, 2001. Kurt Spiegler, a pioneer in research and development of desalination, died on May 17, 2001. He was an Emeritus Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Research Engineer at the University of California, Berkeley. Born and educated in Vienna, Austria, he won an International Student Service Scholarship in 1938, which enabled him to leave Austria after the Nazi takeover and study chemistry at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He started his research on making fresh water out of salt water at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Isreal and continued at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and eventually at the Sea-Water Conversion Laboratory of the University of California. With his students and collaborators he published about seventy research papers, patents and two books on this subject, which are considered classics. He won the 1995 Achievement Award of the International Desalination Association for his 'profound influence on the science and engineering of desalination'. He traveled extensively when he was guest professor at the University of Strasbourg, France, and Kyushu University, Japan, and guest of the Vatican Academy of Science, and when he returned to Israel from 1959-62 to teach at the Isreal Institute of Technology, Haifa. He is survived by his wife of 30 years, Annie; his son, David Spiegler of Wayne, New Jersey; a daughter, Ann-Giselle Palmer of Los Angeles; his step-daughter, Cindy Madill and her husband Peter of Sebastopol; his brother, Walter Spiegler of Kegworth, England; and his step-grandsons, Samuel and Benjamin Madill. He was a member of Congregation Netivot Shalom of Berkeley and Orient Lodge No. 62, AFFM, East Hartford, Conn. Graveside Services will be held Sunday, May 20 at 2:30 p.m. at the Tel Shalom section of Rolling Hills Memorial Park, 4100 Hilltop Drive, Richmond.

Kurt Spiegler Mechanical Engineering Professor Emeritus Kurt Spiegler died in his home in El Cerrito on May 17. He was 80. An expert in the field of desalination, Speigler joined the Berkeley faculty in 1964, and retired in 1978. Spiegel earned both a Master’s and Ph.D. in chemistry from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He began his research on making fresh water out of salt water at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel and continued at MIT and eventually at the Sea-Water Conversion Laboratory at Berkeley. Before coming to campus, Speigler worked for the Gulf Research and Development Company from 1953 to 1959. He then returned to Israel, where he taught and headed the Inorganic and General Chemistry Department at the Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa until 1962, when he moved back to the United States to be a project scientist at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. A widely published author and co-author, Speigler wrote two books on desalinization, which are considered classics. In 1995, Speigler received an Achievement Award from the International Desalination Association for his “profound influence on the science and engineering of desalination.” Speigler is survived by his wife, Annie; his son David Spiegler of Wayne, New Jersey; a daughter, Ann-giselle Plamer of Los Angeles; his step-daughter, Cindy Madill and her husband Peter of Sebastopol; his brother, Walter Spiegler of Kegworth, England; and his step-grandsons, Samuel and Benjamin Madill. A service was held this summer in Richmond.