Her two older sisters were born in the United States, where their parents had emigrated in 1854, the year they married. Her father learned shoe repair and business in Boston, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, respectively, and her uncle was in the leather trade. The Lambrechts later returned to Kirchberg, where Nanny was born on 15 April 1868. Her father died at the age of 52, leaving his family in poverty.
