Geneva E Ebenhahn

Geneva Elizabeth Ebenhahn was born on 1/10/1914 in Montgomery, Iowa, the fifth of six children of William and Jennie Feuerhelm, all of whom she outlived. When she was too young to remember the move, the family relocated to a farm in Omemee, North Dakota. Much later, her family moved to Hayward, California where she renewed her acquaintance with fellow Omemian Gerhard Ebenhahn, whom she married in 1941. Gerhard, the love of her life, died in 1998. They had two children, William Max Ebenhahn (Judith) and Lynda Gene Gonzalez (Anthony). Geneva died 12/12/13 in San Jose, California, after a brief illness, survived by her children, her grandsons Aro Ebenhahn (Deanna) and Tygo Ebenhahn, and her great-grandson Ryek Gerhard Ebenhahn. Geneva was an intelligent, independent woman who put family above everything worldly. She inherited the Feuerhelm family love of travel and absolute certainty there was nothing a Feuerhelm could not do. Through many moves due to Gerhard’s career, she bought and sold her houses herself, tailored coats, made floor to ceiling drapes, painted many lovely pictures, quilted, sewed. She moved her family to Germany for a year; she nursed and cared for her father, her siblings and their spouses in their old age, as well as her ailing husband until his death. Geneva made new friends wherever she went, in part due to her excellent skills in listening, putting people at their ease, and her sense of humor. She wrote excellent memoirs about her sister and her husband. She was kind, compassionate, open-minded, and a quietly religious Christian. Her children’s friends all “adopted” her. We will all miss her very much.

If you are moved to send flowers, please donate to the charity of your choice instead, in memory of Geneva’s generosity in life.