Ingrid Ruth Voget

Ingrid Voget was born Ingrid Ilsa Paula Ruth Hammann in northeastern Germany October 9th, 1925, and died March 17th, 2025, in Portland, Oregon after a short hospital stay. She took almost a century with her!

She had good memories of her childhood growing up with her father Walter and her mother Annemarie in Schwerin, the state capital of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - a beautiful small city of seven lakes watched over by a castle. One enduring memory was of her grandmothers and their fruitful gardens. She remembered riding a small train with her sister to the nearby village of Lübz where they would be greeted at the station by the family dog. On returning home they would be given branches of fresh currents from their maternal grandmother to enjoy.

This life ended in 1939 when Ingrid’s father died, and the second world war began. After her father’s death and at the start of the war her family, which then included two small brothers, relocated to Hamburg. Although not in the city at the time, she was deeply and forever affected by the bombing which took place there and the hunger which was prevalent after the war. Families were also divided. Ingrid remembered a journey at the end of the war between Hamburg, located in what was then the western British zone, to Lübz in the eastern Russian zone where travel was not permitted but where her grandmother had died and left a small, but precious, inheritance for the family. This she was able to collect despite the hazardous journey. By that time, she had successfully completed her university entrance exams. However, due to the war and its aftermath, she was unable to pursue her university education. She had earlier learned English in school which helped her find post-war work as a secretary at Standard Oil in Germany.

She emigrated by herself on the RMS Queen Mary sailing from Cherbourg on December 30th, 1951, and arriving in New York shortly after the new year! From there she took a Greyhound bus to Portland Oregon where she lived with her sponsor, a childhood friend from Germany, who was also an American citizen. She vividly remembers crossing the Cascade Range into the northwest and how grateful she felt for the natural beauty she saw.

In Portland she met Gordon Keith Voget, and they married on May 29, 1953. She was proud to become a US citizen on September 12th, 1957.

Keith and Ingrid worked together, and in partnership with others, growing a family lumber business. Ingrid for many years did bookkeeping for Gales Peak and then Hi-Ridge Lumber Company. In 1970 their business required a move from Oregon to Siskiyou County, California with their three daughters. She and Keith enjoyed hiking there in the shadow of Mt. Shasta and Ingrid acquired a deep love of the diverse landscape there.

Ingrid and Keith divorced in 1996 after many years of marriage. Ingrid subsequently moved to Honolulu living there for 10 years before rejoining Keith in Siskiyou County. They ultimately returned to Portland Oregon where they lived out the remainder of their days.

Ingrid will be remembered for her sparkling blue eyes and beautiful smile. She retained an avid curiosity throughout her life. She invested in a computer and learned drawing and computer animation in her 80s! Teaching herself to use colored pencils she created beautiful drawings of flowers. She was an accomplished cook who brought old world cooking to her family even baking their bread when the children were young. She had a beautiful voice and enjoyed singing by herself and with others. In fact, knowing Russian folk songs and singing them with homesick Russian soldiers was a way to stay safe during her treacherous journey to Lübz after the war.

Even as dementia began to claim her toward the end of her life, she continued drawing (more abstractly) and greeting neighbors as she took her daily walks around the block. She had a wave and smile for everyone she met.

In 1959 Ingrid was exposed to Vedic teachings through Swami Aseshenanda at the Vedanta Center of Portland. These teachings influenced her until the end of her life. She was initiated by Swami Aseshenanda in the late 1960s and was pleased to meet at home with Swami Chandrashekarananda six weeks before her death. Her deeply personal spiritual practice was important to her. She remained an advocate for peace throughout her life writing that “for ordinary people there are no winners in any war.”

Ingrid was preceded in death by her partner Keith, her daughters, Gisela & Kirsten, and her sister Rosemarie and brother Hans. She is survived by her brother Detlef, daughter Tamara, son-in-law Joe, grandson Kealii, three great granddaughters, and nieces and nephews.

Donations may be made to the Vedanta Temple of Portland or to Legacy Hospice.

A celebration of life will take place in future.