Gytel Lotven was born October 14, 1924 in Nancy, France to Mordecai (Max) and Rosa Tuchmaier.  Schooled in France, she completed a degree in accounting and was an OEC (equivalent of a CPA).  In July, 1942, Gytel, her parents, brother and sister fled the roundup of Jews in Nazi occupied France and escaped to the south of France. Gytel was a resistance operative with the UJRE (Jewish Union for Resistance and Mutual Aid) during World War II.  After the war, she worked for the UJRE first in Nancy, then in Paris as a bookkeeper and Yiddish-French interpreter and translator for refugees from the Nazi concentration camps.  In 1950, she immigrated to Springfield, MO with her mother and brother, joining her sister who had married an American GI.  She met her future husband, Isadore Lotven, at her sister's Regine's wedding to his brother Hyman Lotven in Nancy, 1945. They married in 1951

As a Holocaust survivor, Gytel regularly lectured and gave interviews about the Holocaust.  She was a supporter and participant in the Shoah Project and the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.  Gytel was also active in the Democratic Party and served on local and state governing committees, was President of the FDR Club and produced many of the annual Jackson Day Celebration held annually in Springfield, MO. Gytel was leader in the local Jewish community as a member of various Boards and taught Hebrew in Temple Israel's religious school.

She was preceded in death by her mother and father, her sister Regine Lotven and her brother Henri Tuchmaier and by the love of her life, her husband, Isadore Lotven.   She is survived by her children, Simone Lotven Sofian (David), Tony Lotven (Melynda) and Howard Lotven (MJ) as well as six grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren.

Services will be held on Tuesday, January 18, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. at Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home, 1947 E Seminole St, Springfield, MO 65804, with interment immediately afterwards at the Temple Israel Cemetery, 1550 E Seminole St, Springfield, MO 65804. Shiva Services will be held on Tuesday, January 18, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. Place to be determined.

Donations can be sent to the Temple Israel Foundation, PO Box 4284, Springfield, MO 65808.