Kaethe Voigt January 16, 1922 – September 19, 2013

Kaethe Voigt, 91 of Manteca, passed away peacefully on the evening of September 19th, 2013.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband Werner Voigt and her grandson Zachary Grow.

Born to Otto and Elise Dietrich in 1922 in the cultural center of Weimar, Germany, Kaethe was the eldest of 11 children. As a young woman, she was more likely to read Goethe and Schiller than to sew dresses. She preferred working in a dental office than at a bank. She loved her family, took a genuine interest in people, and made lifelong friends.

She married the dashing Werner Voigt in 1943 and raised six beautiful daughters, Helgard, Evelyn, Angie, Kathy, Marlis and Tanya with him until 1967 when Werner passed away from cancer. With 26 grandchildren and 100 great grandchildren, Kaethe’s legacy will be felt for generations.

Survivors of World War II, Kaethe and Werner escaped occupied East Germany in 1948, holding fast to the dream of settling in Salt Lake City, which they did in 1951. In 1955, she became a US Army wife and made a home in Huntsville, AL; Anchorage, AK; Frankfurt, Germany; and Hayward, CA. She finally settled in Manteca in 1989. She graduated from Chabot College in 1977, retired from Alta Health Strategies in 1989, celebrated the fall of the Berlin wall, twice visited the Passion Play in Oberammergau in 1990 and 2010, and celebrated her 90^th birthday at the beach in Asilomar with family, friends , and a dune buggy wheel chair.

She loved sunflowers, daffodils, and violets, “Gruenespeise” and Stollen, Beethoven’s 9th and Handel’s Messiah. She spent her life in service to that which she loved most: the Gospel of Jesus Christ and her family.

“Well, as long as you have your health and each other, that’s all that matters”, she often said. There is nothing she wouldn’t do for family, and those with whom she became newly acquainted immediately felt like family. “Omi,” as her grandchildren and great grandchildren called her, was both a title and a term of endearment. Her warmth, generosity, and compassion quickly turned countless strangers into friends who also came to simply call her “Omi.”

Her peaceful home, the hint of Chanel 19 and the echoes of many happy conversations in the air, was well stocked with shelves of books, Hummel figurines, peppermint and butterscotch candies, a gumball machine, and an endless supply of pennies. It became a Mecca for generations of family and friends on both sides of the Atlantic. No trip to California or to America, for that matter, would be complete without visiting Omi.

At Christmas time, the books and figurines were replaced with delicate “pyramiden”, colorful nutcrackers, and wistful wooden smokers, and entirely too many people were happily crammed into her home to sing hymns and carols, re-enact the Nativity scene, and give gifts to one another.

Not unacquainted with hardship and heartache, Kaethe taught her family determination and resilience. “We don’t give up”, she would say. Tribulations notwithstanding, she recognized the hand of Providence in her life and had a deep and abiding faith in Jesus Christ. Whether on her knees in silent prayer, singing in the Messiah, or sharing her inspiring experiences with youth around California, Kaethe lived a life of love and service. Her gratitude was boundless; her example, enduring; her family, forever. In recalling her life, she recognized the difficulties but focused on her many, many blessings, sweetly echoing her dear Werner, “Didn’t we have a happy time?”

Yes Omi, we DID have a happy time!

Memorial Services for Kaethe will be held Thursday September 26th, 2013 at 10 am at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1233 Northgate Dr. Manteca, CA.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Perpetual Education Fund,

LDS Philanthropies
1450 N. University Avenue
Provo, UT 84604
http://pef.lds.org/pef/bcs/published/english/documents/inmemoriam.pdf

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