There were four children in her family, with Hilde being the oldest, followed by Liesa, Lothar and Manfred. She was preceeded in death by Liesa and Manfred.
Growing up in the suburbs of Berlin, life was hard for young Hilde. Her father left the family when she and her sister were very young. Having to support the family their mother worked swing shift. Hilde (age 5) would take care of Liesa (age 2) during that time. Her mother would have dinner already prepared and all Hilde had to do was warm it up, feed herself and little sister, and then get both of themselves ready and into bed.
When she was around 15, she was hired as a cook for one of Hitler's Youth Movements camps near an army like facility. She worked there for a short time, due to them soon immigrating to U.S.
Her mother Minna and step-father August, two of her siblings (Liesa, & Lothar) and Hilde immigrated to the United States in October of 1937. Arriving in New York, Nov. 2nd and in the Portland area Nov. 7th. Upon immigrating to U.S. Hilde was hired on as a live in housekeeper for an affluent family in the West Hills in Portland. She worked there for several years till her marriage to Karl. It was during this time she learned English and took classes on American history to prepare for citizenship.
In May 18, 1940, she married the love of her life, Karl Warneke, in Vancouver, WA. God blessed them with 66 1/2 years of marriage.
Survivors include:
Her brother Lothar ("Swede") and wife Carole.
4 children, son David and wife Joanne; daughter Janice Riske; son Glenn and wife Jo; and son Grant.
11 grandchildren: Karla, Chad, Denise, Tony, Ted, Tracy, Lisa, Tim, Steve, Mark and Susan.
26 great grandchildren: Danielle, Sean, Addyson, Mason, Hailee, Tasha, Ronnie, Anthony, Nick E., Jackson, Lauren, Emrie, Cameron, Logan, Caleb, Sariah, Emily, Ashton, Skyler, Teylan, Cadence, Noah, Mariah, Kyle, Amy, and Nick.
2 great-great grandchildren: Anaelle and Kendall.
A number of nieces and nephews.
All of the grandchildren and great grandchildren lovingly referred to her as their "Oma".
Karl and Hilde lived in Portland for most of their married life and in the same house on NE Pacific Street for 64 years. When time had come for them to move, they moved across the Columbia River to Vancouver, WA where three of their children resided. In October, 2004 they moved to the Van Mall Retirement Community. In 2006 Opa moved to the "Loving Touch" Adult Care Home into the care of Aurora and John Pal, where he resided till he passed away later that year.
Hilde remained at the retirement community, and in 2008 her younger sister, Liesa from Ashland, OR came and joined her. Let the good times roll. These two ladies were the delight to all at Van Mall. Liesa pushing Hilde around on her walker, walking the halls singing, doing funny delightful things as if they were once again youngsters, spreading joy and amusement. They spent several years together till Liesa moved back to Ashland. How wonderful it was for these sisters to be able to spend time together, to be young again in spirit.
Hilde and Karl were members of Trinity Baptist Church (now Trinity Fellowship) since 1941. She loved God and accepted Him as her Lord and Savior at an early age. She was involved with various womens groups, Deborah Circle, Dorcas group and "the sewing circle". Through these groups of ladies she made lifelong friendships (many who have since gone home to the Lord) and now she once again joins them. Both Karl and Hilde were faithful in their attendance to church and had a strong commitment to making sure their children were able to attend many youth activities and Camp Tapawingo.
Hilde loved her family and tried very hard to make a good home for them. She was a good cook (german dishes, apple kuchen, and oatmeal for her grandchildren), she crocheted , did some needle point and was a good seamstress, making many things such as curtains, dresses and blouses for her daughter, Janice and herself. She loved to have a clean sparkly home.
She was supportive of her husband in his various activities, Portland Police Auxiliary, Trustee at Trinity, Baptist Manor Retirement Board.
She was a housewife for many years. In 1960, Meier & Frank opened a new store at Lloyd Center in Portland. She went to work there as a sales consultant in the China department. She worked there for 23 years and retired in 1983. She always loved a good sale on dishes and beautiful knick knacks and had more than 2 or 3 sets of dishes in the original boxes stored in the attic.
She was a sociable person, enjoying her friends from church and Meier & Frank. At age 45 she began to wear hearing aids, due to profound hearing loss, becoming totally deaf in her left ear. She found it hard to be in groups settings and didn't want to burden anyone, she became less social. In 1987 she got cochlear implant and once again she could hear. Oh what joy to hear again. The sounds she now heard she said, sounded like Donald Duck. So she had to learn to read lips and to distinguish the different sounds she heard to know what was being said. What a difference this made and once again she could really participate with family and friends.
They loved to travel. Nearly every summer the family would go somewhere, to the beach, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Disneyland, Canada or camping. The family would often go for Sunday drives after church, with the old highway going to Multnomah Falls being a favorite spot. Dad the driver and Mom being the co-pilot. After the children were grown, Opa and Oma did a lot of traveling with Philadelphians, a group of Christians that traveled together. During that time they were able to see many of God's beautiful and wonderous creations, such as Hawaii, Alaska, East Asia, Europe and many places in the States. During these travels they made many new and wonderful friends.
In November, 2013 Hilde moved from Van Mall Retirement to the "Loving Touch" Adult Care Home into the loving Christian care of Aurora and John Pal. She lived there till she passed May 6, 2016.
Hilde, Mom, Oma you will be missed but will always be in our hearts. We Love You.
Auf Wiedershehn
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