This article is thirteenth in our series on Luxembourg Americans who have gone through the process of reclamation of Luxembourg nationality to become Luxembourg citizens. These dual citizens, who were assisted in their citizenship journey by Luxembourg Legacy, reflect the passion that new Luxembourgers in America have for all things Luxembourg. This month, we’re featuring Leigh Burmesch, a freelance animator, who obtained her Luxembourg dual citizenship with her father a few years ago.

By Mary Bolich
Leigh Burmesch is an only child who was raised in city far from relatives. Growing up, she didn’t feel a strong sense of connection to her heritage. That changed when she became a dual citizen. Moving to Wisconsin with her husband made her even more aware of her roots.

“I feel connected to my family roots in a way I hadn’t felt before,” said Leigh.

She and her husband Joe Guszkowski, a journalist, and their three-year-old son Will live in Milwaukee. About 40 miles to the north is Random Lake, Wisconsin, where her Luxembourgish relatives are from. Her grandma Virginia (Jung) Burmesch died when she was in seventh grade and after she was gone, extended family gatherings became even less frequent.

Leigh’s father, William “Bill” Burmesch, proposed the idea of dual citizenship a few years ago. The father and daughter as well as Leigh’s son Will qualified through Article 7 of the Luxembourg Nationality Law and worked with Kevin Wester, of Luxembourg Legacy to get their citizenship. Coincidentally, Bill’s father, Leander “Lee” Burmesch and Kevin’s mother Verena (Burmesch) Wester, were first cousins, making Kevin and Leigh second cousins once removed.

“When my dad suggested that we pursue dual citizenship, I was super excited. I thought, ‘This is an amazing opportunity that I didn’t even know was possible,’” Leigh said. “It was so fun to work with Kevin, who has so many good stories about my relatives.”

Article 7 does not require a mandatory trip and in-person application submission in Luxembourg. Her dad and mom did take Kevin’s tour to Luxembourg last year. Leigh and her dad are going on the Luxembourg Legacy tour together in June.

“My dad really wants to go back, and I said I would go with him,” Leigh said. “My mom enjoyed the tour last year, but her next international trip will probably be to Germany to explore her German ancestry.”

A career in publishing, storytelling and animation
Leigh was born in Mount Kisco (Westchester County), New York, and soon after, the family moved to Northfield, Minnesota, for Bill’s job with IBM. Her dad, who worked for IBM his entire career, commuted to Rochester, Minnesota, while her mom Julia, gave up her career as a department store buyer to stay with Leigh and started her own stencil business. It eventually grew into a wholesale and retail company called Stenciler’s Emporium, a place that exposed Leigh to all kinds of art supplies as well as new technology like a CD player and surfing the internet.

“I feel like my mom was one of the first businesses to have a website, which she created. When I didn’t have school, I loved going to her workplace to use all the art supplies and play games on Nickelodeaon.com. My mom introduced me to all kinds of art, and all my birthdays and holidays included an arts and crafts project. So, I was definitely an artsy kid, but when I got into high school, I lost the feeling that I was a good artist because I didn’t follow the fundamental rules of art.”

After high school, Leigh graduated from Loyola University in Chicago with a degree in communications with minors in English and history. She took two semesters of Italian her freshman year and spent a semester of her junior year at Loyola’s Rome Center campus in Italy.

Leigh’s dream had always been to live in New York City and work in the book publishing industry, so she attended a six-week program at the Denver Publishing Institute in Denver, Colorado, then worked at a publishing company in Minneapolis before heading to New York to look for a job. Thanks to networking and savvy interview preparations, she landed a job in the publicity department of HarperCollins. The job was fulfilling and exciting but after a while, she didn’t feel that it tapped into her creativity. She then moved to a marketing position at Penguin Random House, creating the ads placed in the back pages of books.

“I loved working in publishing, but I didn’t see myself living in New York forever. I was only 26 and could have stayed there for a while, but I put a lot of pressure on myself to figure out what I was going to do. Since I majored in communications, a lot of my classes were journalism based and I really liked writing. I became interested in short-form documentaries,” said Leigh. Her college coursework also included a photography class, and she took another photography course while she was in New York.

Leigh began to think about pursuing a career where she could combine all her skills. She took a short-course graduate-level communications program at the University of Washington in Seattle, specializing in digital media and storytelling. One of the many short documentaries she created at that time was “Superfan” about a well-known Seattle Sonics fanatic. It was selected for the Seattle International Film Festival in 2016 and received Best Documentary and Audience Choice awards at the Chicago International REEL Shorts Film Festival.

At that time, Leigh had moved to Chicago to work for a content marketing agency where she shot, edited and animated videos for businesses, including Wells Fargo and Allstate. After three and a half years with the agency she became a freelancer to have more control and freedom in her career.

Today, she is a freelance animator, creating documentary-like animated shorts for advertising agencies, schools and universities. Straightforward animation projects are her bread and butter, but her goal is to do more handmade animation, where every frame is drawn or manipulated by hand rather than by computer software. Two labor-of-love projects she is working on are animating her mom’s middle school diaries (heavily focused on her love of the Sears store in Chicago) and creating a music video for her husband’s band Sat. Nite Duets. She hopes these handmade animation videos will help her lure more clients who are interested in this artform.

Exploring roots and opportunities
Along with delving into her Luxembourg roots and exploring the country and culture on the Luxembourg Legacy tour next year, Leigh is also tapping into her German roots. She and her mom are taking a German language class together.

“Since my husband is originally from Wauwatosa, I spent time in Milwaukee, but when we moved here from Chicago in 2023, I felt more connected to my German roots because of the German culture here. Thinking about how my son Will might benefit from his Luxembourg dual citizenship, I’ve started looking at German and French immersion schools here. I want him to have all the possibilities. Having dual citizenship has allowed me to dream big. It opens up a whole new world.”

Burmesch Variety Store
Leigh’s relatives started and still own The Burmesch Variety Store in Random Lake, Wisconsin. Established in 1948 by Leigh’s great-grandparents, Andrew and Mathilda “Tillie” (Antoine) Burmesch, the business was passed down through the family and is now owned and operated by Leigh’s uncles. A mainstay of the community and open 365 days a year, the quaint store sells groceries, alcohol, household goods, health and beauty products, candy, greeting cards, toys and more. It features a vintage soda fountain counter where you can order a hand-dipped ice cream cone, milkshake or malt and if you stop in at midday, you’re likely to see locals playing sheepshead right next to the checkout counter.

Luxembourg ancestors immigrated to Wisconsin
Leigh’s great-great-grandparents were Michael (her qualifying ancestor) and Mary (Jungers) Burmesch. Michael was from Weiler-la-Tour, Luxembourg, and immigrated to Belgium, Wisconsin, in 1846. Mary, of Altwies, Luxembourg, immigrated to St. Augustine, Wisconsin in 1854.

Leigh’s great-great-great-grandparents John and Anna Maria (Rinn) Jungers also immigrated to St. Augustine, Wisconsin, in 1854 with their young daughters.