June 13, 1927 – Feb. 8, 2019

Lisa Flores, reporter for the Stars and Stripes newspaper, died in Glendale on Friday at the age of 91. Lisa will be remembered as a free-spirited individual with a razor-sharp wit and love for learning. Born as Lieselotte Erika Gregor in Germany on June 13, 1927 to Herbert and Selma Gregor, Lisa was raised in Berlin where her anti-Nazi family lived in precariousness under the Nazis as well as the Allied bombings. As a child, she was forced to participate in the Hitler Youth, where she endured long hours of memorizing poems and songs about Adolf Hitler, and was made to march in parades.

Later on, Lisa taught herself French, English and Spanish, and befriended prisoners of war and foreign laborers who spoke those languages. Lisa was hired at the age of 15 as a secretary at Wirtschaftsgruppe Metallwaren, where metal goods were rationed, and soon was put in charge of the entire department responsible for rationing stamp goods. Because of the bombings in Berlin, the company was evacuated to a town in Bavaria. As the American army approached, the town surrendered and Lisa described the sound of American tanks rolling through the town as “the most beautiful music imaginable.” Shortly afterward, she took a position as proofreader and translator for the U.S. Armed Services newspaper Stars and Stripes.

After Lisa returned to Berlin, she became a secretary and teletype operator for the Berlin News Bureau and eventually a reporter. Even though Lisa was initially hostile to Christianity, she befriended a street preacher’s daughter and, in a moment Lisa later described as being the most important in her life, became a Christian a few months later. In 1950, Lisa travelled across the Atlantic to the United States. There was an official press release about her arrival from Berlin. In New York City, Lisa got a job at the Committee on Cooperation in Latin America, a missionary organization. Afterward, she decided to move to California and on the journey she went from city to city all over the country giving her testimony in various churches.

In the late 1960s, Lisa and her ex-husband Gabriel Flores opened Gabriel’s Interiors in Montrose. In the late ’80s they added Gabriel’s Christian Bookstore. Gabriel and Lisa separated shortly thereafter and he left the business. Lisa continued running it and she became a member of the Sparr Heights Business Association. Lisa’s business brought her joy through meeting new people with whom she could share her faith in Christ. There was always someone she was helping, including aiding students write school papers, even up to her last year being bedridden. English was not her first language, but her grammar was top notch.

Lisa is survived by her four children: John Flores, Daniel Flores, Ruth Warner, David Flores; 11 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Two services will be held to commemorate her life on Feb. 22. A graveside service for family and friends will be held at 11 a.m. at Glen Haven, 1307 Lopez Canyon Road in Los Angeles (Sylmar), and a memorial service will be held in her honor at 12:30 p.m. at Verdugo Hills Baptist, 9100 Tujunga Canyon Blvd. in Tujunga. Lisa’s family has asked attendees to refrain from wearing black clothing – bright colors are appropriate. The family would also love to have her friends share stories, songs or poems celebrating Lisa’s life. In lieu of flowers, please consider sending a donation to Lisa’s favorite association, Gideons International.