Ursel Albers' remarkable and adventurous life ended on Aug. 3, 2022, in Brighton, Colo.

A Princeton resident from 1967 to 1985, Ursel moved to Las Vegas, N.M., before moving to Brighton in 2021.

A survivor of Hitler's effort to wipe out the Jewish people, a national sports car road rally champion, a college professor and world traveler, Ursel was 92.

She was born on Feb. 24, 1930, in Friedberg, Germany, to Louis and Erna Gruenstein Kramer. At age 3, when the Nazis came into power, Ursel's Jewish family fled to France. When the Nazis defeated the French, her family couldn't get permission to leave.

Ursel, who was 11, helped a Belgium family escaping from the Nazis find gas. In exchange, the family gifted her a gold bar. Ursel's father gave the bar to a guide to lead them over the Pyrenees Mountains and into Spain. They caught one of the last freighters to the United States, arriving in New York City three weeks later in June 1941.

Ursel earned a bachelor's from Hunter College in 1951 and a master's from Michigan State University in 1952.

She worked as an accountant for Arthur Young in NYC from 1951 to 1955. Ursel also taught accounting at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania from 1970-1985 and New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas from 1985 to 2000.

A certified public and management accountant, Ursel in 1989 was named New Mexico Outstanding Accounting Educator by the New Mexico Society of Certified Public Accountants. She belonged to the National Association Accountants, serving as president of the Rocky Mountain Council and as a national director.

The Institute of Management Accountants, a worldwide association of accountants and financial professionals, named a scholarship after Ursel. The Albers Award recognizes an academic mentor who demonstrates exceptional commitment to a student chapter. She was the award's first recipient for providing student leadership and career guidance.

Ursel enjoyed playing bridge, classic films, traveling the 50 states, driving her Mazda Miata, cats and going to the Santa Fe Opera. She served as president of the five Santa Fe Opera guilds and never missed an opera from 1986 through 2018.

After retiring, Ursel traveled. She visited the seven continents over a period of 15 years.

She and her husband, Bernd, married on May 2, 1953, in Long Island, N.Y., and took a three-month honeymoon to Alaska. Bernd passed on April 12, 1998.

In the late 1950s, Ursel and Bernd got into road rallying. In 1967, they were Sports Car Club of America national champions. Over five decades, they rallied in a VW Karman Ghia, Porsche 914 and 944, and Datsun 510.

Ursel is survived by a son, Mark Albers and his wife, Mary, of Penn Hills, Pa., and daughters Gwen Albers and her husband, Bob Rudzik, of Pierre, S.D., and Hally Albers and her husband, David, of Brighton; and a granddaughter, Sidney Albers, of West Newton, Pa.

Memorial contributions can be made to Santa Fe Opera.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.