I am so glad that I have these final pictures of my grandmother. This picture was taken 2 months before she passed away.
My Oma passed away on the 21st of Sept. It was my mom's birthday. Kaitlyn, Olivia and I had lunch with my mom that day and that whole day Kaitlyn kept telling us, "call me Kaitlyn Elisabeth." Kaitlyn was named after my mom and my grandma. Maybe she knew something was coming.
When I talked to Abby the next morning to explain what happened, she said, "now she doesn't need to use her cane anymore. And she's probably young like you mom. I bet she's kissing her husband and she's with Jesus." Yes Abby, she is in a much better place.
As her home teacher said at her funeral, my Oma would sometimes say, "I think somebody forgot about me down here." He said he could see her now saying. "Finally!"
My Oma lived a long life and she was a strong woman. One of the stories my Uncle Verner told at her funeral was: After WWII, when my uncle was around 6 or 7 years of age and my mom a couple years younger, my Oma was pulling a wagon with my mom sitting on top of food. Germany still had many Russian and Mongolian soldiers in the country and when they saw a wagon, they knew it held food. No one had much food at that time and the soldiers were hungry. One soldier pulled his gun on my Oma and demanded she turn over the food. She stood there and firmly said "NO!" She then took his gun away from him and made him pull the wagon of food for her.
Thank you Todd for taking some time off of work and playing Mr. Mom while I was able to take off for the weekend and say a final good-bye to my grandma.
Elisabeth Charlotte Priesnitz Beck
Our beloved mother, grandmother and great grandmother quietly passes away on Sept. 21st. She was born Aug 18, 1913 in Breslau, Germany. On Mar 19, 1935 she married Kurt Max Priesnitz who died May 20, 1960. Elisabeth emigrated to the United States in 1970 where she married Richard Kurt Beck in June of that year.
Richard and Elisabeth served a 2 year Church Mission in the LDS Temple in Zollikofen, Switzerland. Richard died Jun 25, 1995.
Elisabeth experienced both World War I and II while in Germany. She had a very full life dying shortly after her 97th birthday celebration with some of her family by her side. She is survived by her 3 children: Werner Kurt Priesntiz (Salt Lake City, UT); Brigitte Elisabeth Porter (L. Kent – Dallas, TX); Ursula Ruth Hartzheim (Hellmut – Duesseldorf, Germany); a sister, Ruth Schwigon (Oldenburg, Germany), 10 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and other relatives in Germany and the United States.
Funeral services will be held Friday, Oct 1st beginning at 12:00 P.M. at the LDS German Speaking Ward at 721 South 1200 East, Salt Lake City. A viewing will be held at Larkin Mortuary 260 East, South Temple, Thursday, Sep 30th, between the hours of 6 and 8 P.M. Friends may also meet at 11AM with the family at the LDS German Speaking Ward building on Friday. Interment will be at the Mountain View Memorial Estates, 3115 East, 7800 South immediately following the funeral service.
The family wishes to express appreciation for all her friends and those who helped care for her as her health faded. Also a very special thank you to Bishop Volker Hagen for his selfless dedication and service to Liesel for so many years.
