From Luxair to Honorary Consul: Reclaiming Luxembourg Citizenship

Luxembourg's growing community of dual citizens in the United States continues to strengthen cultural ties between the two countries, with many embracing their heritage and sharing it through language, tradition and entrepreneurship.

This article is eleventh in a 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 are featuring Luxembourger Fernande (Ferney) Hastert Kuykendall, an avid photographer and writer, former Honorary Consul of Luxembourg for Arizona and New Mexico and one of Luxair's original five flight attendants.

Fernande (Ferney) Hastert Kuykendall was a girl with big dreams. She wanted to be a pilot and see the world. While she never flew an aeroplane, she has travelled the world.

Hastert Kuykendall was born in Luxembourg City on 13 January 1946, the only child of Théophile and Alice Hastert. Her father worked in banking throughout his career and her mother was a homemaker. After graduating from high school, Kuykendall went to work for Luxair as one of the airline's original five flight attendants.

“I wanted to be a pilot, but that was not available in Luxembourg in those days. It was a man’s world, so the next best thing was to become a flight attendant,” Hastert Kuykendall said. “I just wanted to get out of little Luxembourg and see the world.”

In November 1968, Hastert Kuykendall met Bill Kuykendall, a US Marine security guard at the US Embassy in Luxembourg, who had just arrived from the US Embassy in Moscow (USSR). She went to the embassy to sign a condolence book for Robert Kennedy, which had been circulating since his assassination.

“Bill opened the door and it was love at first sight,” Hastert Kuykendall said. Bill proposed on their second date, and they married in October 1969 and moved to California, the first of many moves throughout their marriage. They lived in California and Luxembourg for a few years before Bill's job took them to Singapore, Washington, Utah, Missouri and Arizona. They currently reside in Prescott, Arizona.

Bill Kuykendall, who retired as vice-president of Graybar Electric Company, an international electrical distributor, travelled extensively for work. Hastert Kuykendall tended to their household, their dachshunds, her garden and her lifelong passion for photography.

“I was four or five years old when I got my first camera and I am still taking photos every day,” Hastert Kuykendall, who is 80, said. She published a coffee-table photography book, Sonoran Skies Sonoran Eyes, and her photography, mainly of nature, wildlife and landscapes, has been featured in magazines, including Arizona Highways and Prescott Living.

“Photography is my Zen; my Om,” she said. “My favourite thing to photograph is coyotes. My favorite bird is the turkey vulture.” She and Bill, both lovers of wildlife, were dedicated volunteers at Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center in Scottsdale, Arizona. Hastert Kuykendall is also a long-time freelance writer and she and Bill are chief contributors to the newsletter at their retirement community in Prescott.

“Those are the things that keep me going. My interests—and my husband. I love him to pieces.”

The couple did not have children, so their lives revolved around their beloved dachshunds. They had eight of them - always a pair - from 1979 to 2022. The last two were “Kachkeisheads,” or Cheeseheads, from a breeder in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Honouring her father

When Hastert Kuykendall's father died in 2008, she decided to honour his memory by applying for an appointment as Honorary Consul of Luxembourg.

“Typically, most honorary consuls are appointed as a kind of thank you. I wrote an application and sent it to the Luxembourg Embassy in Washington, DC, which was actually pretty bold. Two years later, a phone call came from the Luxembourg Consul General in San Francisco. We met for dinner and two days later, I got the appointment. And then it was like the dog who chases the car and catches it—now what?” Hastert Kuykendall said. “I caught the car and the fun began.”

Hastert Kuykendall served in the consular role of promoting business, tourism, cultural and educational exchange between Luxembourg and Arizona and New Mexico from 2011 until stepping down in 2021. She holds the title of Honorary Consul Emeritus and was awarded the Luxembourg Order of Merit for her decade of service. The best part?

“The people that I met; people who I would have never met under normal circumstances. It was like a who’s who of people from government to you name it. In my opinion, the best thing is always about the people.”

Luxembourg remains in her heart

When she obtained her US citizenship, Hastert Kuykendall thought she had lost her Luxembourg citizenship.

“I talked to Kevin [Wester], and he investigated it and told me I was still a Luxembourger. He submitted my documents and Luxembourg sent me a new certificate of nationality,” said Hastert Kuykendall. She then renewed her long-expired Luxembourg passport, mostly for sentimental reasons.

“It’s nostalgia. It’s not like I’m going to fly around with that passport, but in my heart, it matters. I mean, you can take the kid out of Luxembourg, but you can’t take Luxembourg out of the kid.”

On their last trip to Luxembourg, Hastert Kuykendall and her husband played tourists.

“You know, like the New Yorker who’s never been to the Statue of Liberty. Bill never really saw Luxembourg, so we toured all the stuff that your average tourist would see. For example, we hired a nice limo and drove to Vianden Castle, which Bill had never seen, and all the sites like that.”

Like most Luxembourgers, Hastert Kuykendall is multilingual and speaks Luxembourgish, French, German and English. She encourages dual citizens to learn Luxembourgish. As administrator of the Luxembourgers in North America Facebook group, which has 1,100 members, she tries to publish a daily post in English and Luxembourgish.

“I think it’s important, as a citizen, to know the language of your country.”

While she feels it is important to engage through language and culture, she feels differently about dual citizens voting in Luxembourg.

“I’m not for what I call ‘representation sans taxation.’ I simply do not know enough to vote in the EU elections. I understand that people are proud of their ancestry and their dual citizenship, but the right to vote is a privilege and you really need to know what’s going on there to vote on the issues and candidates.”

Another thing that makes her feel nostalgic is Luxembourg cuisine.

“You know, food is Luxembourg’s religion or hobby. At breakfast you talk about lunch. At lunch you talk about dinner. At dinner, you talk about breakfast. It all rotates around good food—the German stomach with the French palate.”

The food she misses most is Kachkéis, a soft, gooey (and somewhat strong-smelling) cheese spread on bread and topped with mustard and pickles. According to Hastert Kuykendall, it is particularly good when accompanied by a beer.

“If Kevin wants to leave a legacy, he needs to bring this cheese to Luxembourgers in America who are just going nuts missing it,” she said, laughing.