Edith Gertrud Grade

Our beloved mother Edith Gertrud Grade, 94, passed away peacefully at her home in Meridian, Idaho on February 13, 2024. She was born in 1929 in the farming community of Farbezin, Germany (Pomerania) and near the Baltic Sea to Paul and Ida Borths. She lived a happy busy childhood on the farm with her six sisters. They were all displaced from their home by the horrors of World War II and its aftermath in Germany. She immigrated to the U.S. in 1951 and made her home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She met Lothar Grade, coincidentally also a German immigrant from Pommerania near her childhood home, at a German club dance in Milwaukee in 1952 and they married the following year. They were married for 59 years until his death. They moved to Rockford, Illinois in 1961 as Lothar co-founded Northern Prosthetics & Orthopedic Company. Edith and Lothar lived most of their lives in Rockford, and raised their three children, Hans, Susan, and Heidi, there. They gave their children the gift of a second language and a rich heritage, as German was spoken at home. She especially enjoyed flower and vegetable gardening, sewing, baking, cooking, and going on walks in nature. She had lots of plants indoors, too, and enjoyed the challenge of growing orchids without a greenhouse. Classical music was always playing in the background, and she attended many symphony orchestra concerts and operas. She also enjoyed ballroom dancing, cross country skiing, ping pong, and badminton. She travelled often to Germany with the family, and those trips always included a side-trip to the mountains of Austria or Switzerland. Her favorite destination was Switzerland, and in particular the Lauterbrunnen region, where she loved hiking and the hospitality of Hotel Silberhorn. She made regular trips to spend time with her children and grandchildren living in upstate New York and San Diego, with particularly memorable trips to see the fall colors in the Adirondack Mountains and treasured shells found beachcombing at Silver Strand Beach. Shortly after Lothar retired, they did more adventurous travel to Australia, New Zealand, and South America. She continued to travel widely and her last trip to Europe at the age of 89 included a hike of the Panorama Trail in Switzerland, a 3-mile trail with expansive views of Grindelwald and the Eiger Mountain. Especially in later years, she became an avid reader. She lived in Lake in the Hills, Illinois for a few years following Lothar’s death, and then moved to Idaho with her daughter Heidi and son-in-law Jay about seven years ago. Edith was blessed with good health for most of her life and got to know the beautiful landscapes of Idaho and its surrounding states after the move West. She celebrated her 90th birthday with a trip to Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park.

Edith is survived by her son, Hans Grade with wife Marsha of Niskayuna, New York, by her daughter Susan Briest with husband George of San Diego, California, and by her daughter Heidi Radke with husband Jay of Meridian, Idaho. She is also survived by grandsons Maxwell Grade, Noah Grade, and Ryan Briest and great grandson Lincoln Grade. She has many surviving nieces and nephews and their children in the US, Germany, Belgium, and France. She was predeceased by her husband Lothar in 2012, and by her six sisters Marie Ratzke, Anna Reinke, Paula Habeck, Betty Maischberger, Irma Kraus, and Waltraut Haupt. She will always be remembered as easygoing, generous, and thoughtful, keeping in touch with family and friends near and far over the years. She lived life to its fullest!

Memorial service will take place at 11:00am on Friday, May 24, 2024 at Fitzgerald Funeral Home & Crematory, 1860 South Mulford Road in Rockford, Illinois with a visitation beginning at 10:00am followed by interment at Arlington Memorial Park Cemetery, 6202 Charles Street in Rockford, Illinois. In lieu of flowers, buy a houseplant for yourself, and take it to your home to enjoy and remember Edith.