Obituary: Sontgerath, Marlies
Age 83
Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 24, 2014 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pullman.
Graveside services will follow at 1:00 p.m. at Holy Cross Cemetery in Spokane.
Marlies was born on January 12, 1931 to Willie and Kaethe (Lukemeyer) Richter in Bad-Oeynhausen, Germany.
At the age of two, the family relocated ten miles away to Loehne-in-Westfalen, Germany.
It was there she received her primary and secondary education.
During the war years, the family experienced regular air raids and bombings.
In July 1959, she traveled to America to visit her two aunts, the Becks in Boise and the Schmiedehausens in Cheney.
She decided to stay in America and was employed by Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane.
It was there that met the love of her life, Joseph Sontgerath, and the couple married at St. Ann’s Church on February 27, 1965 and would have celebrated their 50th anniversary next year.
After living in a few places around Washington for Joe’s work, the couple moved to Pullman in 2007 to be closer to their son and his family.
Marlies is survived by her husband Joe of Pullman; son Michael (Marci) and grandsons Joey and Alan of Pullman; sisters Erica and Inge in Bad-Oeynhausen, Germany; and numerous cousins.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Werner Richter.
Memorial contributions in Marlies’ honor are suggested to the Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery in Oregon, c/o Kimball Funeral Home.
KIMBALL FUNERAL HOME of Pullman has been entrusted with funeral arrangements.
Online condolences may be left at www.kimballfh.com